UKB citizen raises concerns about tribal finances

Aug. 7—A United Keetoowah Band citizen raised questions about the tribe's finances and loans during a meeting Saturday, Aug. 5.

During a public forum, UKB citizen Tim Carey discussed some of his concerns about the tribe's finances, first in regard to the UKB's loan to Bacone College, which "has been in financial turmoil since who knows how long."

"I'm just curious. Who is ahead of making that loan? Who was the one that said, 'Hey, let's loan this place $250,000.' That could have been used for the citizens," said Carey.

Carey said the UKB needs to get on top of the "senseless spending."

"This needs to be addressed. The citizens want to know what's going on within their tribe, because if it wasn't for the citizens, this tribe would have nothing," he said.

Due to the college's outstanding debt, the UKB Council voted to rescind its charter with Bacone as a tribal college during a July 1 meeting. Assistant Chief Jeff Wacoche explained why Bacone received the loan from the UKB.

"Chief [Joe Bunch] is the chairman of the Board of Trustees and I'm the secretary of the Board of Trustees for Bacone College, as we were chartering Bacone, and we're still in the process of trying to turn it into a tribal college and receive federal funds," said Wacoche.

Wacoche said Bacone first reached out to the UKB and asked if the tribe would be interested in helping them.

"According to the [American Rescue Plan] funds that we've received, that is an eligible expense under that as long as [Bacone] can state that it's for payroll or something due to that nature for the protection of their employees, their students, and so forth," he said.

Wacoche said the council approved the loan, and the tribe has received close to $90,0000-$100,000 back. While the college has not made a payment in six to eight months, Wacoche said the UKB is still on its debtors list.

"We're still going to recoup our money. That's one thing that we're making sure of," he said.

Wacoche explained why this loan was made to begin with.

"The outlook on it was, if we take ARP funds that have restrictions on it that you can only spend it in certain ways, once you loan it out to another entity and it comes back, it's unrestricted funds," he said.

Wacoche said this was the No. 1 reason why the UKB made this loan.

"We could take $250,000 of restricted funds, loan it out to them, get it back, and it would be unrestricted at that time. That was one of the driving factors. We could spend it any way we wanted once we got it back," he said.

Carey also questioned a recent trip the UKB housing department took to a conference in Hawaii. He heard a rumor that there were "three other people who went that weren't even in housing." Treasurer Sonja Gourd responded to his inquiry

"Sir, I did question that and the persons that did go on this trip that were members but not part of that department, but yes, they did pay their own way... they did pay out of pocket to attend," said Gourd.

Out of the enrollment committee, Secretary Hawk said there were three applications for new membership and one request for relinquishment because of "veteran services."

During his report, Corporate Board Executive Director Woody Anderson said he has been working with Dr. Leslie Hannah regarding a major project involving a railroad in this area.

"I probably can't discuss a whole lot with it right now, but as we move this thing along, I'll be able to tell you a little bit more," said Anderson. "The particular railroad has very strong interest with doing business with this tribe, so we're going to see where this takes us."

The council accepted all reports.

In new business, the council approved:

—Signage at UKB boundaries acknowledging the tribe's boundaries and the date of its 1828 treaty.

—A grant submission by the Keetoowah Economic Development Authority — the UKB Corporate Board — to the Department of Transportation Rural and Tribal Assistance Pilot Program, Funding Opportunity Number DOT-OST-2023-0097.

—The UKB to authorize Execution of a Health Care Consulting Agreement with Yona Consulting Services.

—Increasing the Health and Human Services ARP budget in the amount of $60,000 to offset Exclusive Tribal membership burial assistance.

The council voted to strike discussion on the UKB Travel Policy from the agenda.

After executive session, the council approved:

—Roger Cain with Historic Preservation to submit a grant with the American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association in collaboration with the U.S. Forest Service.

—The 2023 School Clothing Voucher in the amount of $200. Applications will be received Aug. 7-25, 2023, and checks will be mailed out Sept. 8, 2023.

—The Tri-Sales marketing monthly flat fee of $12,500.

—A term for the AG and officers to negotiate terms for Department of Energy Application.

What's next

The next UKB Council meeting is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 2.