By Ana Davis
Rhinelander Daily News
Friday, March 28, 2008 11:15 AM CDT
The Lac du Flambeau tribal members who were arrested Wednesday for breaking into the William Wildcat tribal center and staging an attempted coup that lasted 14 hours were released yesterday on signature bonds of between $250 and $500, with a return court date set for May 7, 2008.
Those arrested, including Dorothy Thoms, Anita Kosher, Brandon Thoms, Chris Fralick, Gus Theobald, Goldie Larson, Michael Bodeau, Rhonda Snow and Betty Jack, were also barred from being in the tribal buildings at the same time, even to attend council meetings.
Vilas County Assistant District Attorney David Breedlove further asked court commissioner Calvin Burton to ban contact between two of the protesters Fralick and Brandon Thoms, but this was overruled.
Meanwhile, BIA regional director Terry Virden was scheduled to meet with council members and concerned tribal members on the reservation yesterday afternoon to discuss complaints of corruption, fraud and mismanagement among certain members of the tribal government. It is these claims of corruption, particularly in regards to several off-reservation business investments totaling approximately $65 million, which sparked Wednesday’s tumultuous events.
“We need to find out where this money has gone,” said council member Tom Maulson during Wednesday’s siege. “Millions of dollars have left the reservation, spent on projects out there that we don’t even know about.”
Divided tribe
Many LdF residents attended the hearing at Vilas County courthouse, and tensions ran high between the divided tribe, which is split between those who support the group of protesters and are calling for tribal president Victoria Doud’s resignation and a full audit of tribal spending, and Doud’s allies who accuse protesters of lying and divisiveness.
Addressing the courtroom, Burton asked for calm.
“I’ve been led to understand that some people wish to make a statement,” he said. “That is not appropriate at this time. The only thing I’ve been asked to do is set bail for an incident in Lac du Flambeau. I don’t know what any of the charges are, but if there are any conflicts or arguments, this is not the place.”
The first of the prisoners to appear before the court was 79-year-old Dorothy Thoms, who was wheeled into the courtroom.
“All the (10) individuals were allegedly involved in a disturbance in Lac du Flambeau,” Breedlove said. “It was an alleged takeover of the community center, and the individuals were involved in varying degrees. The exact charges have not been fully explored at this point. I recommend a signature bond in the amount of $500, and the only other condition I have is that she (Thoms) will not enter the community center with any of the other individuals. She simply can’t be there.”
Peaceful protest
Rhinelander based attorney Paul Arbuckle spoke on behalf of Dorothy Thoms, saying that the protest had remained peaceful.
“She speaks for all,” Arbuckle said. “It was a peaceful protest and remained peaceful.”
The signature bond was reduced to $250 for all the protesters except Fralick and Brandon Thoms. Breedlove initially called for a $2,500 bond, and requested that Fralick and Brandon be banned from seeing each other.
“Brand Thoms’ involvement,” Breedlove said, “may have been more significant. He was a primary actor in this, and I ask that a $2,500 bond be set, and that he has no contact with a Mr. Christopher Fralick.”
But Brandon Thoms objected, stating that the high bond could affect his ability to work, and asked that he be treated the same as the other protesters.
“I am employed at the Lake of the Torches Casino,” he said. “I have been friends with the Fralick family for the past 17 or 18 years. I don’t know why the bond is higher for me.”
Breedlove said it was because there were possible felony charges.
Gasoline
“There are reports,” Breedlove said, “that Brandon Thoms and Christopher Fralick made mention of using gasoline for purposes other than for a generator.”
The group of protesters had taken a 35-gallon drum of gasoline into the administration offices, along with a generator and food supplies.
Speaking from a cell phone inside the building during Wednesday’s siege, Brandon Thoms said that the gasoline was to power the generator, in case law enforcement officers shut down power in the building.
“We have food and supplies,” he said, “and a generator and a 35-gallon drum of gas in case they (police) shut down power.”
Arbuckle, speaking on Brandon Thom’s behalf, asked the commissioner that all members of the protest group were treated equally.
“This was a group effort,” Arbuckle said. “They were there as a group. We would simply ask you to treat him as the others.”
Both Brandon Thom’s and Fralick’s bond was set at $500, and they were not barred from having contact with each other.
Civil rights?
Arbuckle questioned the commissioner’s decision to ban the group of protesters from being in the government building at the same time, saying that this might breach their civil rights.
“He (Fralick) will go along with that (the other conditions),” Arbuckle said, “but he would like to attend council meetings. He has a civil right to attend them.”
Fralick said that he had attended as many council meetings as possible in the past four years, and had attempted to go through the proper channels, but his voice had not been heard.
“I have attended almost every council meeting in the past four years,” he said. “I have attempted to go via the proper channels.”
But Burton said that this was a temporary restriction, and was no great infringement of Fralick’s rights.
“While I’m all in favor of attending tribal council meetings,” Burton said, “I think that there will be a ban at this time for council meetings. It’s no great infringement of his rights, and the court can revisit this. He (Fralick) had the opportunity to attend those council meetings, and he chose otherwise.”
After the court hearing, the protesters were free to return home to the troubled reservation.
Questions need to be answered
Outside the courtroom, Maulson said that questions still need to be answered by Doud about the tribe’s spending.
“It seems like the dust has settled,” Maulson said, “but in reality it hasn’t. We still need answers. We are in a financial situation with a $50 million bond and our chair lady wiring millions of dollars that I didn’t know about. That’s why we’re in a crisis situation today. People want accountability from their government. This (the protest) is a pound of a drum. We’re hoping that Carl Artman (the BIA assistant secretary will come to Lac du Flambeau and help mend our sutures, and bring healing to our community.”
Fellow council member Brooks Big John, who supported the protesters during Wednesday’s attempted takeover, agreed, saying that the arrival of Virden, who is representing Artman, was a good start in helping the tribe move forward.
“We need a third party to come in and do their job,” Big John said, “to find out where the money has been trickling down. The forensic audit that we have coming, conducted by Carl Artman, will be a detailed, specified audit of all the spending during the past ten years. It will account for every nickel and dime, and make sure that there is no wrongdoing. Only then can we move forward.”
By Ana Davis - Rhinelander Daily News
http://www.rhinelanderdailynews.com/articles/2008/03/27/news/doc47ebbbeed5100771844686.txt
Thursday, March 27, 2008 11:03 AM CDT
A 14-hour siege of the tribal government headquarters ended peacefully yesterday afternoon, with the arrest of a group of ten protesters who had forced their way into the building in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Arrested were Dorothy Thoms, Anita Koser, Brandon Thoms, Penny Thoms, Chris Fralick, Gus Theobald, Goldie Larson, Michael Bodeau, Rhonda Snow and Betty Jack.
Members of the Bureau of Indian Affairs arrived at the reservation by late morning to participate in negotiations and, according to reports, representatives from state and federal agencies, including Carl Artman, assistant secretary of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, will be travelling to the reservation today to conduct investigations and a forensic audit of tribal spending, and hold meetings with members of the protest group.
While there was no violence from protesters inside the building, or from the many tribal members who came out to show their support, people were angry at the massive police presence from Vilas, Oneida, Lincoln and Forest counties, particularly when officers threw a 16-year-old girl to the ground and pepper-sprayed 20-year-old Joe Poupart.
“The police tossed a young girl to the ground,” Poupart said, rubbing his eyes, “and I was stepping forward to help her.”
Final plea for help
The takeover of a government building was a final plea for help to bring an end to the corrupt government regime that is destroying the tribe’s economic stability and future, said the protesters, who called themselves the Ginews, Ojibwe for golden eagles.
“We are trying to get help to end the mismanagement, nepotism and corruption that exists within our tribal council," said tribal member Brandon Thoms, speaking from a cell phone inside the building yesterday morning. “We've exhausted all efforts.We've called the BIA, the FBI the IRS and also the National Indian Gaming Commission and our pleas have fallen on deaf ears. This is the last thing we could do to bring attention to what's happening here.”
In particular, the group was calling for the resignation of tribal president Victoria Doud and council members Dee Mayo, Geraldine Brown, Carl Edwards, Julie Valliere, John Brown and Louis St. Germaine.
“The repeated abuse of governmental power, the dictatorship of seven members o the Tribal Council and the rampant corruption of these seven council members has caused the Lac du Flambeau Indian Reservation to become a seat of poverty,” said a statement released by the group yesterday. “Over 100 tribal members have either lost their jobs or their programs. Students attending higher education have lost their benefits. Tribal elders have lost needed services — all because of the wanton spending and graft of these seven people. Now is the time for change.”
People’s voices need to be heard
This view is supported by the remaining council members Muriel Fralick, Brooks Big John and Tom Maulson, who had numerous discussions with both protesters and Doud inside the building “This is what happens when you push people to the wall,” Big John said. “Dee Mayo is saying it’s business as usual. It’s not business as usual. This is the last straw. People’s voices need to be heard. The people have been trampled on, as has our constitution, and it has led to this chaos."
Though Doud and other council members are still in office at this time, the protesters and concerned tribal members hope that yesterday’s events will illuminate problems on the reservation and bring about change.
“Unfortunately, they did not overthrow the government yesterday,” said Paco Fralick, brother of one of the protesters. “But they might indirectly do it if this audit is thorough.”
Doud and her supporters were unavailable for comment.
Eagles overhead
Throughout the day, hundreds of tribal members gathered in the parking lot of the Lake of the Torches Casino and outside the government offices, which had been cordoned off by police, to show solidarity with those inside. Braving freezing temperatures and snow fall, they kept warm by a bonfire as traditional drum music played, and spirits were rejuvenated when eagles circled overhead.
“That means our ancestors watching over us,” said local resident Rocky LaBarge.
Many were furious about the vast sums of money that have been spent by the tribal government on off-reservation projects that have, to date, brought no revenue back to the tribe.
“We need to have a fully fledged meeting with Vicki (Doud),” Maulson said, “and find out where the money has gone. Millions of dollars have left the reservation, spent on projects out there that we don’t even know about.”
Financial crisis
During the past four years, the tribal government under Doud has invested approximately $65 million in a number of businesses, many of them thousands of miles from the reservation.
These investments have led to serious financial problems that anxious tribal members say could take years to correct, particularly as the tribe has yet to see any return on their spending.
The projects entail three multi-million-dollar off-reservation casinos, including the Dream Catcher, a $3.5 million failed casino cruise ship venture that was originally destined for Mexico but is now docked in Tampa Bay, Fla., a proposed casino in Shullsburg, Wi., which was recently nixed by the BIA who said that its 300-mile distance from Lac du Flambeau could have a negative impact on reservation life, and a second gaming boat and hotel complex in Natchez, Miss., that has already cost the tribe millions of dollars and is now the center of a lawsuit between the tribe and one of its business partners, Charles Cato.
The tribe has also invested approximately $1.9 million in two Holiday Inn hotels in Stevens Point and Green Bay and a further $9 million in XIT, a start-up technology company based in Houston, Texas.
No accountability
The situation finally came to a head in January 2008 when the government, confronted by a cash crisis because of these expensive investments, took out a $50 million bond to consolidate its debts. The bond, which was arranged by St. Louis based brokerage and investment company Stifel Nicolaus, has an interest rate of 12 percent with monthly payments in excess of $500,000.
Last month, the tribe was forced to mortgage 1,800 of land in a desperate attempt to raise more money.
“There’s been no accountability,” said Treasurer Muriel Fralick, who has been threatened with removal from her position by Doud for questioning tribal finances, “about how this money has been spent. Some of the concerns we have is that millions have been spent on off-reservation projects that have no benefit to the tribe. That’s why people are angry – they watching our money diminish day by day.” protesters, who eventually agreed to come out, were arrested and charged with criminal trespassing.
“It reached a stalemate,” Paco Fralick said. “Either they came out, or the cops went in. We didn’t want anyone to get hurt, so they came out.”
But tribal members that say this is not the end. “We thought the BIA would come here as mediators,” Maulson said, “but that has not been the case. We want to make sure our books aren’t as dirty as we think they are – and to do that, we need a transparent government.”