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From: Ruth Dial Woods
Date: 05 Jan 2004
Time: 22:21:23 -0500
Remote Name: 172.209.220.13
LUMBEE FEDERAL RECOGNITION WILL NOT BE BEST SERVED BY COVER UP AND FRAUD Spread before me are news articles dating back to November 19 and they just keep coming. In November when HUD notified the Tribe that funds could neither be expended or obligated until appropriate programmatic action was taken, the Chairman of the Housing Program stated that they had "dropped the ball" and were still in "a learning process." This statement came after both Councilman Hunt and the Tribal Administrator in conversation with the Editor of The Robesonian denied that there was any problem in the Housing Program. While tribal officials kept trying to finger the blame for "dropping the ball" to staff changeover and "the learning process," (Councilman Jimmy Hunt, November l9, 2003 edition of The Robesonian), the Tribal Administrator made national news (USA Today, December l5, 2003) and state and local news (The Robesonian, The Fayetteville Observer, and The Community News Advertiser) in calling staff to sign confidentiality statement that would prohibit them to disclose information about tribal operations without prior approval of the Tribal Administrator. Having served as a former Council member, the Tribal Administrator was aware that HUD had no regulation for application of the Privacy Act in providing applicant information to tribal officials. This matter had been well discussed with the Tribal Council from October, 2001 until December, 2002 and the housing applications carry a provision for applicants to give permission for their information to be released to district council members. However, after 9 months on the job, the Tribal Administrator decided that staff making salaries from $30,000 to $60,000 and her own salary at $80,000 were incapable of making sound judgments in releasing information and that the elected tribal members representative of the people were undeserving of asking questions and seeking information on behalf of their constituents. While contractors were waiting to be paid for jobs they had completed and tribal staff were trying to understand the lack of confidence in their ability to make informed decisions and to respond to questions about public policy, another former Council member who had assumed a position with the tribe and who had served for two years as a Council member proceeded to ask for legal interpretation of an administrative procurement policy and proceeded to contract for procurement of mobile homes in violation of HUD procurement policy set forth in the federal statutes and regulations governing the administration of NAHASDA programs. This tribal staff member has recemtly made reference in the news media to following policies of the previous administration, however, tribal administrative policies have never been utilized, until now, to supercede federal statutes and NAHASDA policies of procurement. According to the tribe's NAHADA policies. the Tribal Administrator and the Comptroller (Finance Officer) have the authority to contract for procurement in excess of $100,000, not the Housing Director. While responsibilities can be delegated, authority cannot, therefore, the public has not heard the explanation from the Tribal Administrator and the Comptroller as to why they allowed this disregard of federal regulations. The minutes of the Tribal Council Meeting of October l6, 2003 referred to by the current Housing Director have not been approved and adopted since the Tribal Council has not met in full session for going on three months now. However, according to Mr. MacMillian, the Council fully approved his recommendation to procure 60 mobile homes without public advertisement and bidding on the advice of the legal counsel in interpreting the tribe's administrative policy, not HUD's federal procurement policies. According to these minutes, questions about the procurement policy and public bidding were asked by Council members but both Councilman Jimmy Hunt ,Mr. MacMillian and the attorney of record assured the Council that the bidding process used was appropriate and legal. The process of public exigency utilized in the administrative policy is to meet immediate needs, and while there is no question about the need for safe and adequate housing, the Lumbee Tribe has other options for homeownership than replacing mobile homes that will within due time need to be either rehabilitated or replaced again This is short-sightedness and is in direct contrast with the Presidents Bush's initiatives for homeownership and state initiatives to improve the quality of affordable housing in North Carolina. The allowability of emergency services to meet immediate needs for health and safety has been abused to provide immediate services that were actually rehabilitative services rather than emergencies to help applicants get services earlier without waiting for rehabilitation. The action of the Tribal Council to procure mobile homes from a Tennessee manufacturer took jobs outside of Robeson County when we are suffering economic disaster at this point in time. In 2002, the manager of the Pembroke Fleetwood Plant met with Tribal Chairman Milton Hunt and me and offered to build half-doublewide mobile homes for $15,000 to meet tribal specifications. If the priority for housing is for handicapped, elderly and disabled, the it would appear that doublewide homes would be more appropriate while meeting the needs of this special needs population. It would meet their housing needs and our employment needs. The constant excuses and weak explanations that continue to show up in the newspapers indicate a definite lack of knowledge and understanding of the requirements for governance and administration of NAHASDA rules and regulations and reinforce the problem of inadequate leadership. Efforts and explanation to cover up this inadequacy ultimately meet the test of fraud and abuse. Tribal leadership needs to get a grip on things and accept the fact that they have provided irresponsible leadership. The continuing excuses and attempts to point blame where it does not exist is comparable to the assessment of Representative Ron Sutton in his concluding statement about evidence of double voting, written and sworn testimony of voting irregularities,, and documented fraud in counting more votes than people voting as "ridiculous and almost comical." Let's hope the new Tribal Council will take their elected responsibilities more seriously and hold the new Chairman and his administrative staff more accountable. What's more, let's hope the Lumbee people will become more informed and more active in monitoring their tribal government by attending meetings of the Tribal Council and interacting with their elected representatives.