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A voter guide for Wolfetown Tribal Council

This year’s race for Wolfetown/Big Y Tribal Council is an unusual one, with the two incumbents having held their seats for less than a year following a pair of special elections in December and March.

During the Primary Election in June, incumbents Andrew Oocumma and Mike Parker finished neck-and-neck in second and third place, both with just over 24% of the vote. Parker edged Oocumma by only two votes. But first place went to Bo Crowe, whose resignation in January triggered the special election that seated Parker. In June, he took 31.8% of the vote amid a field of six candidates. Peanut Crowe, who is Bo Crowe’s brother, came in fourth at 12.4%.

In total, 1,260 votes were cast for Wolfetown Tribal Council in June, with a significant increase expected for the upcoming General Election. During the last election that included a race for chief, in 2019, 1,695 votes were cast for Wolfetown Tribal Council.

The Smoky Mountain News reached out to all four candidates to ask their opinion on a range of issues. None of the candidates responded, though Oocumma and Parker did reply to a more limited questionnaire ahead of the Primary Election that asked candidates for biographical information and their top three priorities should they win the race. Additional information is drawn from previous reporting by SMN and other sources as noted.

Andrew Oocumma

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Oocumma, 49, was elected to Tribal Council in the Dec. 15 special election that followed Rep. Bill Taylor’s resignation. At that time, he was serving as regional advertising manager for Harrah’s Cherokee Casinos. Prior to that, he was a banker for a major Midwest regional bank and had a career in workforce and economic development. Oocumma managed teams in the Ohio college system to develop customized training and education for major companies statewide, developed and managed major grant projects to put people back in the workforce, and collaborated with regional leaders to grow central Ohio’s economy. Oocumma holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Western Carolina University.

Top three priorities if elected: Ensure community members are aware of the risks and rewards of out-of-state business dealings before such projects are voted on, see that committee and commission members recuse themselves when voting on matters to which they are personally connected, boost local economic development through increasing activities for youth and tourists, natural resource attractions, revitalizing commercial businesses and exploring bringing back bingo.

Opinion on proposed constitution: During a June 21 work session, Oocumma said that he supported a referendum vote on the proposed document, but in July he voted with 10 other Council members to delay the referendum so that a new Constitution Convention could work out legal issues with the document.

Ideas to improve economic development and quality of life in Cherokee: In a Primary Election questionnaire response submitted to The Cherokee One Feather, Oocumma suggested using the tribe’s natural resources to “transform what attracts folks to our rivers and mountains and harness it to turn that into profit for the tribe.” Additionally, he said he has been working toward instituting a zoning board or business-driven professional group to drive “the pride we need to re-beautify our business district” and to work with the Department of Commerce to improve visitor accommodations.

Mike Parker

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Parker, 58, has represented Wolfetown on Tribal Council since winning a special election in March. Previously, he was the EBCI’s destination marketing director. Parker holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and recently completed a master’s degree in project management. Prior to this year’s election, he had served on Tribal Council for a total of 10 years, including appointments as chair and vice chair.

Top three priorities if elected: Work with leadership to develop a strategy for reporting and developing a spending plan for external economic development initiatives such as the tribe’s various LLCs; introduce legislation to develop community design standards for housing and local economic development; and work with leadership to develop dividend policies and revenue distribution to the tribal government and tribal members while ensuring adequate equity to sustain growth.

Opinion on proposed constitution: During a June 21 work session, Parker said that he supported a referendum vote on the proposed document, but in July he voted with 10 other Council members to delay the referendum so that a new Constitution Convention could work out legal issues with the document.

Bo Crowe

Crowe was first elected to Tribal Council in 2013 after spending 13 years as a tribal employee. He was serving his fifth term when he submitted his resignation letter Jan. 30. At that time, he was serving on the HIP Committee, Qualla Parks and Recreation, the Roads Commission, the Timber Committee and Social Services. He was also Tribal Council’s designated representative to the Cherokee School Board.

Top priority if elected: In a post to his campaign Facebook page, Crowe said that he believes his previous 10 years on Council “can speak for itself” and that he plans on “continuing to work hard for my community and ensuring those same values of my community stand strong.”

Peanut Crowe

Crowe, 51, has been a tribal employee for more than 20 years. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Western Carolina University with minors in Cherokee Studies and Hospital Management.

Top three priorities if elected: As stated on his campaign Facebook page, Crowe aims to invest in the community, support economic diversity that includes bringing family-friendly attractions — such as a water park, community pool, street fairs and festivals — to Cherokee, and collaborate with fluent speakers of Cherokee and those involved in language preservation to come to a consensus on the best way of proceeding to protect the Cherokee language.

Opinion on proposed constitution: In a post to his campaign Facebook page made after Tribal Council decided to delay the constitution referendum, Crowe included the constitution on the list of referenda on which he supports the people having a vote. “We should keep them on the ballot and give our people a chance to have their voices heard,” he wrote.

Path to stabilize and grow tribal finances: On his campaign Facebook page, Crowe wrote that, if elected, he would submit legislation requiring that half of any revenue from gaming investments be distributed to tribal members as per capita income.

Ideas to improve economic development and quality of life in Cherokee: In a post to his campaign Facebook page, Crowe wrote that Cherokee has “not even begun to scratch the surface of developing our community.” He said economic development is a long-term process to secure wellbeing, quality of life and finances. If elected, he wrote, he would prioritize drafting and submitting legislation to bring family-friendly attractions to Cherokee.

Hear the candidates

All four candidates participated in a General Election debate hosted by The Cherokee One Feather. Watch it at bit.ly/wolfetownyellowhill23.

Get ready to vote

Remaining early voting dates are Aug. 23-26 and Aug. 28, with polls open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

On Election Day Thursday, Sept. 7, polls will be open 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the following locations: Big Cove Community Center at 8715 Big Cove Road, Birdtown Community Building at 1146 Birdtown Road/ U.S. 19, Big Y Recreation Center at 2641 Wrights Creek Road, Cherokee County Health Clinic at 328 Airport Road in Marble, Painttown Community Building at 59 Magnolia Lane, Jacob Cornsilk Complex at 60 Snowbird School Road in Robbinsville, Wolfetown Community Club at 12 Burgess Drive off of Wolfetown Road/U.S. 19 and Yellowhill Activity Center at 1416 Acquoni Road. All addresses are located in Cherokee unless otherwise noted. Learn more at ebci.com/government/election-board or contact the EBCI Board of Elections at 828.359.6361 or 828.359.6362.

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