July 27, 2013
Saturday

The KIC Recall Committee for Responsible Leadership is very disappointed in the recent decision of the seven KICTribal Council members who chose to ignore a valid recall petition submitted on behalf of 243 Tribal Members in the July KIC Tribal Council meeting. The recent KIC Tribal Council press release was rife with inaccuracies and is what would best be described as political "smoke and mirrors".

In their effort to avoid being held accountable, the subjects of the recall petition highlighted certain portions of the 1979 KIC Constitution while ignoring the sections ofthe constitution that validated the recall petition. KIC Tribal Council acknowledges that the 1979 KIC Constitution as the governing document to determine this recall. They refer to the threshold to be met under the constitution for removal from office as being five percent (5%) of the membership of 5J57. They ignore page 5, Section 4. of the KIC constitution defining Members of Record: "A member of record is a member who has attained the age of majority under the laws of the State of Alaska and whose name and current address are on file with the Secretary of the Council." A valid recall petition must have signatures of 5% of the members who are age of majority (18 years of age or older). Nowhere in the KIC constitution is a member defined as a registered member or those who voted in the last election, because there was no registration of members in 1979 nor is it required in the current KIC Recall Ordinance. The paperwork provided to the Recall Committee, the formal recall petition and instructions provided by KIC staff was that 212 valid signatures would be needed for a valid petition. The Recall Committee met that requirement for all seven Tribal Council Members.

This Tribal Council is abdicating our Tribal rights of Self Determination by referring to their consultation with the Bureau of Indian Affairs on the KIC Recall petition when they know that the BIA would not make a determination on a local recall petition. We have filed a formal Freedom of Information Act request with the KICTribal Administrator and with the regional Director of the BIA in Anchorage for documentation regarding this "so called" consultation on the July 8, 2013 Recall Petition.

The reason for this recall is that the KICTribal Council abused their power by knowingly violating KICTribal Council Ordinances, and Personnel Policies and intentionally failed to comply with the 1979 KIC Constitution thereby acting outside the scope of their authority. They have not performed in the best interest of the Tribe by creating a potential threat of financial claim against the Tribe.

This kind of behavior from these council members is expected. However, the most shocking turn of events in this whole recall process is that even though KICTribal Council President Irene Dundas stated "every possible effort was made to protect and keep safe the signed petition, in respect for the tribal process", they actually unsealed the January 21, 2013 KIC ballot box to verify who voted in the last KICTribal election to compare against signatures on this July 8, 2013 Recall Petition. It is every KICTribal Members' right to vote a secret ballot and should remain sacred. This council will go to any lengths to save their own council seats. We liken this violation of the ballot box to opening the ashes of our ancestors who fought for the right for Alaska Natives to vote.

The KIC Recall Committee for Responsible Leadership rejects this recent decision to invalidate the petition of 243 Tribal Members and we are exploring all options. This includes holding a special meeting as is called for in the KIC Constitution "with or without cause" for the membership to remove the seven KICTribal Council Members. The urgency behind this recall effort is to remove this Tribal Council that is out of control before they can do any more damage.

Richard Jackson
Martha A. Johnson
Co-Chairs KIC RECALL COMMITTEE FOR RESPONSIBLE LEADERSHIP
Ketchikan, Alaska

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