June 6, 2023. Sault Tribe Board Wrap Up. $200,000 Year Job Opening at Sault Tribe Inc.?
Unit One Representative Betty Freiheit’s desire to have Enrolled Tribal Members given the opportunity to apply to be on the Board of Sault Tribe Inc was ignored and the current men serving as Sault Tribal Inc. Board Members were reappointed. At this time there are no women appointed to serve on the Board of Sault Tribe Incorporated. It was not disclosed at the meeting if these are paid or voluntary positions. Though based on the fact that Sault Tribe Inc has a job posted for a remote worker advertised at a starting salary of $150,000 with a performance bonus offered to allow earnings as high as $200,000 it is doubtful they are giving us their opinion for free.
The Resolution to release the investigations completed to date into D.J. Hoffman was tabled. The final report is not complete and there was not anyone from the Legal Department to address the issues of releasing this report. Some Board Members believe it is a Witch Hunt while others believe the information should be released because of the manner former Tribal Chairman Aaron Payment was treated by some of the current and past Board Members.
The illegal Resolution to appoint Jo Ann Carr to the Tribal Board after she won the Special Election for Unit One Tribal Board was not approved. The seat was declared vacant on December 20 when Austin Lowes won the Special Election to become the Tribal Chairman. The Special Election that was won by Jo Ann was voided because of a mix up which resulted in mailing the ballots early. Supporters were on hand in the Tribal Board Meeting to support the appointment and appeared to be very angry when she was not appointed. It appeared those voting to approve the appointment were trying to save us money because she did win the last election and the seat has been empty for six months. What they ignored was that the appointment of Jo Ann Carr is no different than the illegal appointment of DJ Hoffman by the Board to Tribal Chairman to replace Aaron Payment when he was mysteriously forced to resign. Or did he resign to take a better job? Both Aaron and the Board use the conveniently executed Non-Disclosure Agreement as their excuse for refusing to tell the Tribal Members the facts of this costly resignation which is now costing us an estimated $95,000 for three Special Elections. That estimate does not include the Special Elections for Referendums held earlier in the year with more promised for 2023 by Tribal Members attending the meeting.
The fact that after the D.J. Hoffman Debacle the same Board Members would attempt to appoint a Board Member after being proven it was a violation of our constitution proves they have learned nothing. The resolution was voted down in a tie vote when five Board Members voted yes and five stood up for our Constitutional Rights. The Chairman broke the Tie Vote in favor of a new Special Election.
