Behind Closed Doors
Up until the Referendum, all business conducted on Romulus was done so behind closed doors.
Had it not been for a keen Tribal Members eye, the Board would have passed the resolution and made a huge commitment without Membership consent. They were fine with making a deal with the devil.
Petitions for referendum implemented by Aaron Payment and the required amount of signatures plus were obtained. The Members of the Sault Tribe repealed the resolution 2010-249.
The Deal
Several different deals were proposed that could have benefited the Tribe. Hungary Gatzaros could not be satisfied unless he had more than his fair share.
Gatzaros, McCoy, and Bouschor would eventually drive off potential investor Jerry Campbell and slide in an unknown through the backdoor.
Email confirming the intent to not participate below.
During the delay of the Referendum the language was changed twice. It was pre-posted apparently by the Tribal Webmaster mistakenly to say one thing and then the post was removed and the language was changed again.
The Board was scrambling and for good reason. They sent out a Referendum to repeal Resolution 2010-249 that is false. Jerry Campbell is not involved in Romulus. That was a flat out lie in writing approved by the Sault Tribe Board of Directors.
The Victims
The Sault Tribe Members fall victim again to an incompetent Board. More false hope with the possibility of never having a Casino in the Romulus area.
The people didn’t say no to Romulus, they said no to dealing with Gatzaros. A majority of this Board voted to do business with the unscrupulous Ted Gatzaros again. Knowing full well, that the Tribe lost 268 million plus in Greektown dealing with the Greeks.
What is scary is they did it under the assumption it was in the best interest of the Tribe.
This is a runaway Board writing checks we cannot cover.
- Research would tell us that after losing over 268 Million to the Greeks, that doing business with them is a bad idea.
- Research would tell us that 33+ failed businesses; we need to do something different.
- Research would tell us that under the leadership of Bernard Bouschor from the 80s up until now have provided Members with a failed business plan.
Mums the word when it comes to Tribal Business.
- No Communication is nothing new.
- No Communication was established in the 80’s under Bouschor. It would carry on over to the Payment and now McCoy Administration. All three figure the less the Members know, the better for them.
- No Communication has lost the tribe 100’s of millions of Member dollars.
- No Communication has caused a very deep mistrust in Tribal Government.
Do what you can even if it’s wrong.
- With No Accountability no one on the board is held responsible for their actions.
- With No Accountability your Elected Representatives do not have to answer to you.
- With No Accountability Tribal finances are being withheld from the Members.
Tony Grondin's TakeFrom:"Tony Grondin"
To: Editor Ziomek
Subject: Romulus: Tribal Casino Will Not Open
Wednesday, February 2, 2011 6:25 PM
February 2, 2011
Dear Editor Ziomek,
I am directing my opinon to todays publishing of "Romulus: Tribal Casino Will Not Open". I think the public in general is under the impression that the Sault Tribe does not want to explore enterprise ventures in Romulus. That is as far from the truth as it can get. The majority of the tribal electorate did not want to venture into anything with Ted Gatzaros or Jerry Campbell.
Our track record with Mr. Gatzaros has not been good. Gatzaros and his cohort Papas took our tribe for millions of dollars. We cannot lay blame entirely on those two as our former Tribal Chairman, Bernard Bouschor played a major role in millions of dollars leaving tribal coffers. Bernard Bouschor was not re-elected Tribal Chairman as a result of his behind closed door deals. He was however able to garner a few hundred votes in Unit 1 to put himself back on the Tribal Board of Directors and is now trying initiate yet another deal with Gatzaros and another loser Jerry Campbell.
At one time the Sault Tribe was exploring a business venture in Romulus through Mayor Lambert. That was sent to the curb by former Tribal Chairman Payment. Many of the tribal membership feel our integrity is now damaged and any future negotiations with Romulus may be in jeopardy.
As a tribe we struggle daily to exist contrary to what some may think. The tribal electorate over a period of decades has changed our leadership through referendum. That effort resulted in more incompetence as we are experiencing now. Millions and millions of tribal dollars are at the mercy of a select core group who seems to be able to hold on so far. Our electoral system is flawed to say the least. Tribal members are being denied an opportunity to lead our people by manipulation of the Election Code.
Our Constitution gives us the right to seek election and the Bouschor, Payment and now McCoy administrations are ignoring it. As a Federally Recognized Tribe we are required by the BIA to have a valid and ratified Constitution. The tribal membership has no recourse when tribal leaders violate our Constitutional Rights leaving that required document worthless. The BIA says it's a tribal issue and will not take any position but yet has the audacity to burden our tribe with a Constitution that is worthless.
History has witnessed Native American repression and oppression at the hands of the Federal Government ie; In the 1800's, their land was invaded and they were forced onto reservations. Even the reservations and "Indian Territory" was taken over and settled by the white men. The Trail of Tears, Indian Wars, Wounded Knee.
Today as I write this letter Egypt is in turmoil as a result of repression and oppression by their government. If we as a Native Sovereign Nation were to stand up to repression and oppression the way Egypt is today, the Federal Government would step in and rebuke any such attempt. Even with that in mind it may come to that point. Which is when the Federal Government may put individual lives at risk as they did at Pine Ridge Reservation, on February 25, 1973.
So, Mr. Ziomek, do you see where this is going? A misunderstanding of a Peoples desire can lead to a very difficult situation. An exhaustion of options of recourse dictated by Federal Government can most certainly lead to an uprising. The way it will be reflected in history is anybodies guess!
Tony Grondin, Sault Tribe Elder
*** **** *****
St. Ignace, MI. 49781
*** *** ****
ps: I would welcome any exploration of fact of any of my statements and would welcome any replies you may solicit from the Sault Tribe Leadership.
Election 2012
Election 2012 is just around the corner. It is time to make some changes once more.Term limits need to be implemented and the Dinosaurs have to go!
