Ethics rules passed in Cherokee
Tribal government is expected to gain on openness and accountability following passage of a pair of laws in Cherokee Tribal Council this month. After more than a year of work, the tribe now has a code of ethics and a mechanism to ensure the new standards are enforced.
“What this does is make sure that we behave, that we don’t do stuff, and when we’re accused of doing stuff that it will be investigated and we can get some response back to our community,” said Councilmember Teresa McCoy, of Big Cove, moving to pass the legislation.
Council unanimously passed an ordinance to create the Office of Government Ethics, an independent office tasked with investigating and ensuring discipline for ethical violations.
“It’s one thing to have a rule in place, but to not have a way to enforce it is the problem,” McCoy said. “This will enforce it.”
The legislation describes an office staffed with a tribal ethics officer, clerk and administrative workers that will operate separately from both the executive and legislative branches of government. An Ethics Review Board will be in charge of governing the office’s activities, though the legislation does not outline requirements to sit on the board or describe who will appoint its members — that will be decided through future legislation, the ordinance says.
The office itself is still concept as much as reality. Tribal Council is currently beginning budget hearings for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1, and funding for the new ethics office will be part of those discussions. That process will impact how quickly the office is set up and what final form it takes.
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In the meantime, the new ethics rules will still apply, with the tribe’s Office of Internal Audit — that office focuses mainly on financial issues — administering the ethics code until the new office is created.
While the tribe has had an ethical code of sorts since 1995, the new rules, which the committee spent more than a year developing, are far more extensive and clearly spelled out than the tribe’s existing code of conduct.
“It’s appearance,” Kevin Jackson, a former member of the ethics commission, told councilmembers during a May work session. “When you start looking at these things, ethically it’s the appearance to the public that we have to be very careful with.”
Ten of the 12 councilmembers voted to pass the rules, with Chairman Bill Taylor, of Wolfetown, and Travis Smith, of Birdtown, abstaining.
The new rules include a definitions section — absent in the existing legislation — that leaves no doubt as to what is meant by words such as “conflict of interest,” “immediate family,” and “tribal official.”
“Immediate family” was the only term defined in the previous legislation, but the new rules greatly expand its meaning beyond the earlier scope of spouse, sibling, parent or child. The definition now includes in-laws, grandparents and grandchildren, step-parents and step-children, foster parents and foster children as well as aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews. It also allows the closeness of the relationship to be considered — if you’re not married to someone but you live with them, for example, that qualifies as immediate family under the new law.
Tribal officials — the definition includes elected and appointed positions — are now required to report any instances of corruption they know about, report gifts and set up public forums for tribal members to speak on this issues important to them. They’re forbidden from taking or accepting bribes, participating in decisions or discussions that could affect their personal interests — such as, for example, pushing to hire a relative’s contracting firm for a tribal project — or withholding public documents not explicitly deemed private under tribal code.
The law also prohibits tribal officials from making unauthorized public statements that others could perceive to represent the tribe as a whole. The provision harkens back to a 2014 incident in which then-Principal Chief Michell Hicks traveled to the Washington Redskins’ field with members of Cherokee’s American Legion post, who served as color guard on the field. During the ceremony, Hicks said the words, “Hail to the Redskins,” which caused an uproar back home. “Redskins” is considered an offensive term by many in the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, and the tribe had not endorsed Hicks’ statement.
Principal Chief Patrick Lambert, who took office in October 2015, has publicly supported efforts to make tribal government more open and accountable to its people. Lambert is in the midst of an intensive audit into government spending over the 12 years of the previous administration, presenting preliminary findings in April that showed thousands of dollars in cash advances, thousands more at clothing stores such as Victoria’s Secret and Joseph A. Bank, and rentals for stretch limousines — all on tribal credit cards. Lambert said he would push for federal charges in connection with the expenditures.
Regarding the ethics legislation, Lambert was quick to give his blessing.
“I am proud that Tribal Council passed the new Ethics Law and look forward to signing/ratifying that law as soon as possible,” he wrote in a Facebook post three days after the law passed.
