UKB Council pushes back on paying fees to attorney for chief during impeachment

Sara Serrano, Tahlequah Daily Press, Okla.
·4 min read

Jul. 6—The payment of legal fees related to the impeachment of Chief Joe Bunch was discussed at length during the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma council meeting on Saturday, July 2.

The UKB council heard comments from tribal citizens during the public forum segment. Many took issue with item 6 on the agenda, which was a council discussion to vote to approve or disapprove the attorney fee for Dale Ellis, to defend "false accusations and defamation of character by means of impeachment(s)."

Former Goingsnake District Representative Sharon Benoit expressed her opinion to the council.

"There are better ways to spend our UKB dollars. When I say ours, it is ours. It belongs to the constituents. Our numbers count whenever we receive these from the federal government — whether it is relief money, stimulus money, government dollars, all of that — our numbers count," said Benoit. "When they say $14,000, that's what's allotted out to us. It's to those $14,000 UKB and that includes all of these elderly that live on $700 a month."

Former Cooweescoowee District Representative Jeannie Tidwell Jeannie Tidwell aired similar grievances.

"You were impeached, you were found guilty on five charges. It should not be up to the tribe to foot your legal bills. Whenever a person makes the decision to go out to hire an attorney, that's their own responsibility," said Tidwell. "I've had to hire attorneys on many occasions and I never came to the tribe to pay my attorney fees."

Tidwell said she didn't know how Bunch expected to be monetarily compensated for defamation, when she had never seen the defamation lawsuit.

"I don't think it should be up to this council or I don't think the burden of your bill should be put on the backs of the members of the tribe; that's basically what would be happening," said Tidwell. "You would be taking money from people from the tribe, and I just don't think there's any justification for that. I hope this council will do away with that resolution and vote it out."

When it came time to vote on the item, Delaware District Representative Caleb Grimmett said the resolution has gotten him the most texts and calls since he has been on the council.

"I hear you. I hear what you're saying, but this isn't a price that people have to pay. It's not our price to pay," said Grimmett. "The amount you're requesting — and you're making claims of false accusations and defamation — should be more toward the price of those that you're accusing of making those claims. Not our people's price to pay, that's more that could go to a service, that could go to something else useful."

Bunch ultimately agreed with the complaints.

"My belief as a tribal member, as a chief, is that this was wrong. It should have never should have never gotten out of the starting blocks," said Bunch. "Having said that, I understand what you are going through, so I will retract this right now."

The motion was struck from the agenda.

In other new business, the council:

—Approved funding for the Administration for Community Living/Administration on Aging Older Americans Act Title VI grants (Parts A/b and C) for the grant period of April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2026, and Participation in Cycle VIII of the National Resources Center on Native American Aging Needs Assessment "Identifying Our Needs: A Survey for Elders."

—Approved the Echota Behavior Health Grant submission to the Heath and Services Administration (HRSA) for the Rural Communities Opioid Response Program (RCORP) — Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) access, funding opportunity HRSA-22-165.

—Accepted Caleb Grimmett to fill the vacant seat on the Education Committee.

—Approved the provision of "must have a Driver's License" to file for office as stated in the Election Ordinance 2022.

—Approved the Emergency Management Policy.

The following items were tabled:

—Discussion to vote to approve/disapprove the amended Housing Ordinance.

—Discussion to vote to approve/disapprove to resend resolution 16-UKB-76 and to bring forth the name of the education building, George Wickliffe Education Building.

The council moved to executive session the acceptance of Chief Joe Bunch, Noah Nofire, Anthony Goossen, Jennifer Cole Robinson, Sara Thompson, with the Treasurer as ex-officio to be known as the budget committee.

The council struck from the agenda an item to vote to approve/disapprove to begin to issue hunting and fishing licenses through the UKB Tag office.

What's next

The next UKB Council meeting will be Saturday, Aug. 7, and can be viewed on the tribe's Facebook page.