All John Hatch
John Hatch has always been one of the biggest opportunist in the Tribe. Of course you have his Sister Nancie who is equally opportunistic as well.
John Hatch made a statement to the Detroit Free Press unofficially that was simply not true. The article is below.
Sault Tribe Laying Off Workers To Fight Deficit
BY MARGARITA BAUZA FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER August 2, 2008
Greektown Casino's majority owner, the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, is laying off 2% of its 2,000-member workforce as the tribe struggles with a $15-million budget deficit.
Spokesman Cory Wilson said layoffs are under way and will happen across the board at its five Kewadin casinos and its governmental operations. The tribe is majority owner of Greektown Casino, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May.
It also owns five casinos in the Upper Peninsula, which are in Sault Ste. Marie, St. Ignace, Hessel, Christmas and Manistique. Wilson said the tribe's dire financial straits are partly because of Greektown Casino's financial troubles.
"Casino revenues are down across the state, tourism is not the same, gas prices are high, a lot of things that play into this," Wilson said. "All Sault tribe laying off workers to fight deficit of our operations are doing anything we can to avoid more layoffs. This is a last resort. "Wilson said he was unclear how the layoffs would affect services to the tribe's members such as health care and education but it is doing what it can to keep them intact.
A tribal statement said: "Over the years, millions in tribal reserves has been dwindled down to nothing. According to financial analysts, if changes are not made, the tribe will not recover."
The tribe's leadership declined to give specific numbers on job cuts. However, John Hatch, a former spokesman, said 369 cuts are expected to take place in the next 10 weeks and about 65 people were laid off this week.
Tribe member Nathan Wright, 41, a Web site administrator, was laid off Thursday. "I was told that they were downsizing ... and that we would be eligible for unemployment. Normally, there's an appeal process, but it's not available right now," Wright said.
"There's a lot of places that are downsizing right now, but usually they get the top-heavy people, not the small guys like myself. But we're a
tribe, and that's how we do things, I guess."
Contact MARGARITA BAUZA at 313-222-6823 or mbauza@freepress.com.
END OF ARTICLE
John Hatch The Muscleman
Under the Bouschor and Payment Administrations, John Hatch always got his way. He has physically threatened many Tribal Members and Employees in the past. His most recent incident was at a Board Meeting where John Hatch pushed and threatened a Tribal Board Member. Hatch's intent was to clearly start a physical confrontation. This Director stood above that and the Police were called in and escorted Hatch out the door. John Hatch is under the assumption that he can do whatever he wants to whoever he wants on Tribal Land. His days of lawlessness are about to be over.
No Stranger To Cover-ups And Excuses
11/12/01 Spokesman for Sault Tribe unhappy with negative press By SCOTT BRAND/The Evening News
SAULT STE. MARIE -- A scathing indictment of the Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians sitting Board of Directors and Tribal Chairman Bernard Bouschor appearing in Sunday's edition of The Detroit News, drew sharp criticism from Tribal Spokesman John Hatch early today.
"First of all the articles were heavily sensationalized," he said. "The people interviewed are those from our community who are regularly in political opposition. ... In every area that they worked on they ignored our responses, ignored our documents and presented the information in the harshest manner possible to sensationalize the story."
The Detroit News articles that start as the top story on Sunday and jumped back to nearly two full pages inside allege a widespread series of abuses with tribal leaders reportedly squandering the $250-million-a-year empire and keeping the money from the members who need it the most. In addition, the 29,000 members have little or no control over how the money is spent and are unable to hold the leadership accountable when those moneys fail to fund tribal services.
Bouschor's salary of $100,000 a year as tribal chairman, plus an additional $167,000 as the tribe's chief operating officer for casino operations were also called in to question as The Detroit News explored a large, retroactive pay increase. The board of directors received a similar bonus as their pay jumped from $48,000 to $64,000. According to published calculation, tribal legislators are knocking down approximately $200 an hour and most of them have other jobs as well. Many of those full-time jobs, it turns out, are upper echelon positions within tribal operation.
Restrictive election ordinances, The Detroit News further alleges, prevent approximately two-thirds of the 29,000 members from engaging in tribal politics. Secretive business dealings, a high rate of federal investment into tribal programs and no apparent mechanism for profit sharing were also cited in the investigative report.
"We are astounded that a newspaper like The Detroit News would produce such negative and biased news," said Hatch, adding that while the publication is known for hard-hitting exposs this particular series crosses the line. "It's not just hard-edged, but in this case they moved into fantasy.
"This is not just investigative reporting, but a wrongful condemnation of tribal communities everywhere," said Hatch. "We don't feel it was fair or on-target. It was over-dramatized and over-sensationalized. They discounted all of our initiatives, policies and procedures that have helped to move the tribe from a poor community to one where there is health care, education and housing."
He also added the story lacked balance as the reporters from The Detroit News failed to use any documents or quotes that showed the tribal administration in a positive light: "They didn't let the facts get in the way of their reporting."
Admitting there is not much the tribe can do immediately to counteract the negative press it received Sunday, Hatch indicated meetings with The Detroit News and responses in the tribal newspaper are planned.
"To be honest with you it will take a while to recover from such an onslaught, but we will," he said. "We will take the time to get our message out there."
END OF ARTICLE
Big Bully
On 7/21/02 John Hatch was taken into custody for the following.
Pair arrested
SAULT STE. MARIE -- Sault Police visited the 1600 block of Riverside Drive at approximately 10 a.m. Saturday serving a pair of warrants in the process. John P. Hatch, 50, and XXXXXXXXX, 24, both of the Sault, were taken into custody on separate disorderly-fighting warrants.
The arrests stem from a police investigation into a July 6 altercation at the Sugar Island Ferry Dock.
Both men were processed at the station and released from police custody with the posting of $100 cash bonds.
Board And Police Action
It is time the Board and the Police act within their legal parameters and solve this pessimistic behavior by John Hatch. He like anyone else is not above the law. An example needs to be set to prove the Tribe has no tolerance for this behavior.
People should read this.
Posted by Anonymous | Monday, November 10, 2008 11:25:00 AM