DARRINGTON – The Sauk Suiattle Indian Tribe’s council chairwoman was ousted in a runoff election that broke a tie between two cousins.
Ronda Metcalf bested Gloria Green in a vote held in December. Results for the runoff were made public last week. Metcalf had 25 votes to Green’s 11, said Cammie Carrigan, a councilwoman and member of the tribe’s election committee.
Metcalf has been a council member for 18 months. She filled an open position mid-term in 2005, and was elected for a one-year term for 2006. Council members fill three-year, staggered terms.
Metcalf and Green were among 16 tribal members who ran for two open positions on the seven-member council. Jason Joseph, who has been council chairman in the past, was elected with 19 votes. Both elections were held in December.
Janice Mabee, Cynthia Harris, James Roberts, Richard Wolten and Carrigan make up the rest of the council. The council will elect its own chairperson on Friday.
Council members are not paid, Metcalf said.
Metcalf said she believes previous Sauk Suiattle councils have been more interested in political power than the tribe’s welfare.
“This tribal council, whether with myself or with Gloria (Green), believes that we need to go beyond the past and move into the future,” Metcalf said.
In 2005, the council, led by Green, ruled that Emily Jo Bill, who died in 1969, was incorrectly added to the tribes’ membership in the 1980s. All of Bill’s descendents were removed from the tribe’s rolls. They lost all their tribal benefits, including healthcare and housing.
Sauk Suiattle tribal members said some of Bill’s descendents were now living in a motel in Mount Vernon.
Metcalf added that Green, as tribal chairman, did not vote in that decision. Green could not be reached for comment.
“For people to blame the disenrollments on Gloria is absurd,” she said. “There are seven council members, and they made their decision based on the information that was provided.”
Reporter Krista J. Kapralos: 425-339-3422 or kkapralos@heraldnet.com.
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