SEATTLE, Wash. — Scandal has continued to plague the Puyallup Tribal Council in the wake of new charges it gave a councilwoman $19,000 of tribal money to pay off a personal income tax debt.
Sources close to the Puyallup tribe say the council authorized payments last year shortly after Sylvia Miller was elected to the tribal council. They claim two previous attempts by Miller to obtain payment from the tribal council failed and that she only received the authorization from tribal council allies.
Apparently one former tribal employee, James Miles claims he questioned Miller last year and recommended to the council that the payments not be made since the debt Miller accumulated was personal.
Allegedly Miller claimed the tribe was responsible for her debt because of a clerical error regarding her W-2 form for 1996 while she was employed by the tribe’s Job Training Partnership Act office. Miles counters that Miller has accumulated debt in 1995 which had no bearing on the mix-up and that she could have easily straightened out the clerical error.
The $19,000 debt was the result of $12,000 in unpaid taxes while the other $7,000 was the result of penalties accrued by Miller after the IRS dismissed her excuses. Apparently the IRS seized her personal bank account and Miller claimed to the tribe that the money was actually her children’s per capita payments.
Charles Hosnick, an attorney for Members for Equal Opportunity and Responsible Government (MEORG), a group of Puyallup tribal members opposing the actions of the current council, says the payment to Miller violates both the tribal constitution and the Puyallup ethics code of 1990.
Miles claims he has an internal Puyallup document that shows only five of the seven tribal members approved Miller’s request for the payment. In addition to Tribal Chairman Herman Dillon, the document was signed by Miller herself.
Hosnick says even disregarding the potential conflict of interest, the method of executing the payments runs in direct conflict with the tribal constitution. It states, in paraphrase, that the council may act by majority vote, but on all matters shall warrant a full discussion from the entire council.
The motion to pay off Miller’s debt was authorized in what is known as a “walk around.” Hosnick claims the document was never put before the full council and was only taken to individual council member’s offices for their signatures.
“There was no discussion, plain and simple. The matter was never fully discussed by the entire council and it was approved in what seems like a secret vote,” Hosnick said.
He added that MEORG’s main problem with the payment is that Miller received benefits not offered to other tribal members.
Puyallup tribal member, MEORG member and frequent council critic Harry Dillon is not so sure. He said he believes the court and police are little more than pawns of the council. He points out that the tribal gaming commission was shaken up last year after they became critical of the actions of the tribal council.
Dillon said his group filed its first lawsuit this past summer in tribal court charging the tribal council with violating the constitution in making bailout payments. The tribal ethics code mandates that the council have a special hearing within a few weeks. When this did not happen, MEORG asked for a declaratory judgement.
“They just totally ignored it. I don’t get it, how they think they can violate the tribal constitution. They probably just think the whole thing will just go away. The council thinks that they’re bulletproof,” Dillon said.
Council critics say they fear that the council controls the tribal police and courts. Hosnick, however, is an exception. He said he believes the court will be fair and impartial.
Dillon said his group filed a new lawsuit in late September, on the same ground, and that he is not hopeful the council will respond. If the council ignores this latest request, Dillon said his group is planning strategy to take it out of the tribal court and into federal appellate court.
This is only the latest in a series of scandals that has plagued Puyallup. In August, the tribe mysteriously shook up Puyallup International Inc. (PII) after the group launched several successful economic development projects, including the Emerald Queen casino and a tribally owned gas station.
Shortly thereafter, it was revealed that the tribe attempted to make a $4 million bailout payment on the personal debt of a former tribal councilwoman Roleen Hargrove. Though the council approved that payment, it was later rescinded. Council critics say this was because of mounting public pressure and increased media scrutiny.
Puyallup sources said not all council people are involved in the scandals, which they claim are perpetrated by a bare majority of the seven-member body. Apparently relations have cooled between members who supported the bailouts for Miller and Hargrove and those who opposed them.
MEORG members said they have not been able to get in touch with the council people who were against the bailouts and there seems to be a media blackout from the entire tribal government as well. Several news organizations, including Indian Country Today have been trying to get in touch with the council which has steadfastly refused comment or defense of its positions.