TRANSPARENCY: Moving the Tribe into the Digital Age and Out of the Geyapi Age!

TRANSPARENCY:

The people need to know what is going on with the Tribe at every opportunity.  We should not wait weeks or months for council meeting minutes to be published or a report from our Tribal Council member at our District meetings.

We MUST move towards LIVE internet streaming of all Tribal Council meetings, all Tribal members should be able to log-in and watch Council in action. 

All meetings should be available for viewing as well as all Council minutes published on the Tribal website, available for all Tribal members to see.

We MUST limit Executive Sessions.  We need to conduct all Council meetings in the “light-of-day”!

We MUST publish all budgets and where we stand versus budget, each month with updates.  Then make them readable to all of the Tribal members!

We MUST have open doors to ALL Tribal Members and OPEN BOOKS!

We MUST give District input on the budgeting process, including District APPROVAL over budgets.

I believe that all un-budgeted items that exceed $5,000.00, should be taken back to the Districts for approval.  If the item is not budgeted for, then it needs to go back to the Districts.  We need analysis and projections for any expenditure that exceeds $5,000.00 and they must provide proof that the expenditure is needed.

IF we are going to cut budgets for the good of the Oyate, we need to cut ALL budgets, for all enterprises, not just at the Tribe. 

If one Oyate needs to tighten their belt, we all do. 

If one Oyate is hungry and in need of help, we must take care of them, we cannot turn our heads and pretend that we do not see it.

If one succeeds, we all succeed! 

The Tribe needs to move towards total TRANSPARENCY.  We are all shareholders and we are all entitled to know where are money is going or whether we should go into debt to build a new office building or buy new slot machines or expand any casino!  ALL Oyate need to be part of the decision making process and it has to be open book to all of the People and we ALL need to know whether the investment will be returned and how long until it is repaid?

Elect me to be the next Vice Chairperson for the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate and I will move towards Transparency and my office door will be open to ALL Tribal members and their families.

I would appreciate your Vote and your support on Tuesday, October 2nd, for the Primary Election.

Pidamiya,

Beverly Thompson

Elect Bev Thompson SWO VICE CHAIR

Experience *  Integrity  *  Honesty

Get your campaign literature to read and distribute!

CAMPAIGN LITERATURE IS IN!

and Ready to Distribute

Yard signs will be available on Friday, September 14th! Please contact me for more handouts of the campaign literature, voter information cards, and yard signs.  We really need help getting this grassroots campaign rolling  to victory in the primary and in the general election.  We appreciate all of the words of encouragement from people on and off the reservation and we are taking your words to heart!  Pidamiya!

Elect Bev Thompson SWO VICE CHAIR

Experience *  Integrity  *  Honesty

Introduction to Beverly Thompson

About Me:

Available for hand-out

Elect Bev Thompson SWO VICE CHAIR

Experience *  Integrity  *  Honesty

Campaign Sign and Ride to the Poll Information

Vote and Elect Bev Thompson

Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Vice Chair

To receive campaign signs or literature to distribute or place in your yard, please contact us.  We appreciate all the words of support we have received!

The most important thing we can do as Oyate is, vote for our leadership.  Please take time to read the issues, read the qualifications of the people running for office and make your decision based on who has the vision to make the Lake Traverse Reservation better and our people stronger.

Elect Bev Thompson SWO VICE CHAIR

Experience *  Integrity  *  Honesty

Leaders listen to the People (Platform 1)

Elect Bev Thompson SWO VICE CHAIR

Experience *  Integrity  *  Honesty

Leaders Listen to the People

I cannot remember if there ever was a time when Tribal Council has put the people first after they got elected into office.  That must change now.   We need to make sure that Council remembers who they work for, and who they answer to…the People. 

I am not a career politician,  I am a mother, grandmother, great grandmother, and I wanted to enjoy my retirement, BUT from years of morally bankrupt leadership, with indictments, lack of accountability, the waste of MILLIONS OF DOLLARS of the People’s money.  I felt I had no choice but to step up to make a positive change for the future.  I will only serve one term and help set the Tribe on a positive course for the future.

Here are issues that I want to address as your Vice Chair, these are not all of the issues but it is a good start, I look forward to visiting with everyone to listen to what they want to see changed.

Primary Issues:

Education “Invest in our Future Leaders”

Job Creation/Job Training  “New jobs and more training for all of our current and future employees, so they can work anywhere in the Country”

Better Health Care  “Too many of our people are dying from illnesses that should not be killing our people”

Housing  “We have a housing crisis and we need to upgrade all current housing while building for the future”

Land Purchase  “We need to make an investment in land purchase not monument building”

Energy Development  “We have a lot of great natural resources and need to take advantage of them”

Other Important Issues:

Better Care for Our Elders

“Taking care of those who took care of us”

No Vendors taking Our Managers & Council Members to Dinner  “No wining and dining to get a contract” 

Make it illegal for any person making a decision on a contract, service, or business to get “wined and dined”.

One Purchasing Department  “Save money by having centralized purchasing for the entire Tribe”  

Streamline the bidding process and take the decision for acquisition out of managers.

No more NO Bid Contracts,

“All Contracts to go through a Centralized Purchasing Process, not Political Process”

Tribal/Indian Preference in Contracting “Money needs to stay in our community or in Indian Country” 

Why should the millions in contracts the Tribe and Enterprises spend each year, go to businesses not owned by Tribal Members or other Indians?

Council Spending and Expenses Made Public “Knowing what is being spent each month without an audit telling us”  

Council is spending your money, you should know what they are spending it on, each month.

Equitable Pay Scale & Wages of Managers/Directors  “People to earn good living but not at expense of others”

Wage info should be available to Tribal Members, pay scale should be region based and fair across the board.

Invest in Technology  “A computer and a cell phone in every household”

Our Tribe should be wireless, we should have a computer in every household, and all households should have a cell phone. 

Elect Bev Thompson SWO VICE CHAIR

Experience *  Integrity  *  Honesty

Who I Am

Elect Bev Thompson SWO VICE CHAIR

Experience *  Integrity  *  Honesty

Hello,

My name is Beverly Thompson, I am a candidate for the office of Vice Chairperson for the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate.

Many of you know me, but for those Oyate that do not know me, here is a brief introduction.

I was born and raised on the “Rez” and my family moved back and forth to the “Rez” because of the lack of employment opportunities.

I have been with Michael Thompson for many, many years, 50+ years.  I am a mother of 5, a kunsi of 20 with number 21 on the way and a great grandmother of 15.  Like all of you I love and am proud of my family very much and want the best for them.  That is why I am putting Education, Job Creation, Job Training, Better Health Care, Housing, Land Purchase, and Energy Development, as the main points I want to focus upon as your next Vice Chairperson.

The future of the Tribe is very important to me, my family, to you and your families.  Our future lies in our youth for they are our future.

I am the District Chairperson of the Lake Traverse District, an honor that I never take for granted.   Having the support and faith of the families in the district and being able to voice their problems to DCA and come up with solutions, is difficult but rewarding.  I have also been very involved in sitting on boards and committees, too numerous to mention.  Being involved in the community, and making sure the needs of underrepresented Oyate are heard at every level is one of my main concerns.

I am not a career politician.  I have not spent my life running for Tribal office, but I focused on raising my family and building businesses to take care of my family.  I am a concerned elder, worried about the future of our Tribe and whether we have a plan for the future.  It is not about building monuments but about making sure our children and children’s children have access to education, job opportunities, and housing on our reservation.

“Speaking Out for What’s Right and Point Out What’s Wrong”

I attended college late in life, like many of you I focused on raising my family first.  My area of study was Business Economics.  I have a strong background in Accounting and Finance, I would be happy to share my college transcripts for review to show you the classes that I completed.  My children have all attended college, my grandchildren are attending college, my eldest great grandchild is in college, to my family,  education is a priority and I hope to make it accessible to all Oyate.

Negotiated the North Dakota State Gaming Compact

Some Oyate know and some may have heard the rumors, but it is true.  My son Theron and I negotiated the North Dakota Tribal - State Gaming Compact in 1992 at no cost to the Tribe.  I will be handing out the original resolution issued by Council and the resolution of Tribal Council accepting the Compact.  Because of that compact, the Tribe was able to escape the confines and limitations of the South Dakota compact and the limitation on 250 gaming devices.  We need to be utilizing the millions of dollars that the North Dakota casino generates to fund Education, Job Creation, Job Training, Better Healthcare, Housing, Land Purchase, and Energy Development for our people.

We need to create a plan and outline where our revenues should be going, a certain few should not be making decisions that affect thousands of Tribal members.

My dream is that every young man and woman has the support of the Tribe to reach their full potential.  This to me solves many of the problems we have on the reservation.  We need to make education and the access to funding for education a priority.  A self-fulfilled person does not easily fall prey to the pitfalls of society and an educated people will have a better and more prosperous future.

Accomplishments/Boards

·         Alcohol and Drug Free Award

·         Grandparent of the Year Award

·         Member of the Governor’s Task Force for Long Term Elderly Care - South Dakota

·         Women’s Economic Development Board Member (WEDCO) - Minneapolis, MN

·         Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Reservation Election Board, Chairperson

·         Sisseton-Wahpeton Community College Board of Directors, Acting Chairperson

·         EPA Committee, Lake Traverse District Representative

·         Reservation Planning Commission, Lake Traverse District Representative (interim representative)

·         Tiospa Zina School Board, Lake Traverse District  Representative (interim representative)

·         Judicial Committee, Lake Traverse District Representative

·         First Gaming Board for SWO (Agency Bingo and Dakota Sioux Casino)

·         Senior Congressional Page – Washington, DC

·         Owned and operated a multi-state service company with contracts with IHS, HUD, BIA, University of Minnesota, Public Hosptials, and Numerous Tribes, 

·         Negotiated the Tribal-State Gaming Compact with the State of North Dakota

·         Funded and assisted in the negotiation of Tribal State Gaming Compact in the State Kansas 

Elect Bev Thompson SWO VICE CHAIR

Experience *  Integrity  *  Honesty