Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe sets in-person election date
Jessica Hill Cape Cod Times
Published Mar 24, 2021
MASHPEE — The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe has set a new date for its general election after a Mashpee District Court judge found that mail-in voting was against the tribe’s constitution.
The election is set to take place in person on May 16.
The Tribal Council set the date during its emergency meeting Monday, although the tribe’s Election Committee still has some work to do, Tribal Council Vice Chair Jessie “Little Doe” Baird said.
Tribal Council member Aaron Tobey Jr., along with two other tribal members, sued members of the Tribal Council and the Election Committee regarding the election, which was originally set for March 26. The Tribal Council and Election Committee decided to hold the election solely through mail-in ballots instead of in person in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tobey and the other plaintiffs argued that it was against the tribe’s constitution, which states that voting in tribal elections shall be by “secret ballot cast at polls.” Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Alternate District Court Judge Amanda L. WhiteEagle agreed.
On May 16, registered tribal voters will pick the next tribal council chairperson as well as other government positions. Nelson Andrews Jr., Kyle Bassett, Aaron Tobey Jr. and Brian Weeden are vying for chairperson.
Carlton Hendricks Jr. and Edwina “Winnie” Johnson-Graham are seeking the vice chair position on the tribal council. Ann Marie Askew and Cassie Jackson are running for tribal council secretary, and Kimberly Frye is running against incumbent David Weeden for a spot on the tribal council.
Charles “Bobby” Foster, Angela Marcellino, Winona Pocknett, Karen Edwards Siegel and Marie Stone are running to be the tribe’s next treasurer.
Mashpee Wampanoag tribal members sue over mail-in voting plan
Jessica Hill Cape Cod Times
Mar 2, 2021
MASHPEE — With the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe’s general election only a few weeks away, a few members have raised concerns about the decision to hold the election exclusively through mail-in voting.
Tribal members Aaron Tobey Jr., Crystal Asiwe and Steve Helme are suing members of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Council and the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Election Committee at the tribal court, arguing that holding the March 26 election through mail-in voting is against the tribe’s constitution.
“What my client is arguing, is that the constitution really prescribes the election process for the tribe,” attorney Jonathan Polloni, representing the plaintiffs, said in a phone interview, “and what’s happened is that the tribal council has really buried that process. That is significant and deserves a lot of caution.”
A preliminary injunction hearing will be held in the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal District Court at 10 a.m. Tuesday regarding the lawsuit.
The election will determine who the next tribal chairman or chairwoman will be, as well as other positions in tribal government.
On Jan. 25, the tribal council passed an emergency tribal ordinance to address voting in the 2021 Regular Election during the COVID-19 pandemic. The ordinance allowed for the election to be held through mail-in voting and/or voting by ballot drop box.
In conjunction with passing that ordinance, the council also requested an advisory opinion from the Mashpee Wampanoag Supreme Court to determine whether voting by mail conflicts with the tribe’s constitution. The court has not yet made a ruling on that question.
That request was made in order to “bolster the tribal membership’s confidence in the integrity and legality of the modified voting method for the 2021 Regular Election,” according to the defendants’ brief filed Feb. 19 in opposition to the plaintiffs’ motion.
The plaintiffs argue that while the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Constitution provides for the adoption of ordinances, as well as emergency ordinances, the constitution requires voting by “secret ballots cast at polls” in all tribal elections and prohibits absentee voting, according to the plaintiffs’ complaint obtained by the Cape Cod Times.
“By permitting mail-in ballot voting, the Defendants have caused election irregularities that violate the Constitution and will affect the outcome of the election when it is held,” the complaint states.
The plaintiffs ask that the tribal court annul the election and require a new election be held in conformance with the constitution.
“The timing to experiment with mail-in voting is not now,” Tobey, a plaintiff, said in an interview, noting that information on past elections has been subpoenaed by a federal grand jury.
Helme, another one of the plaintiffs, said he does not understand why the tribe cannot follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s rules to allow both voting in person and mail-in voting for those who would like the option. He also thinks all tribal members should have a say in how the election will work.
The defendants, on the other hand, argue that the tribal council and election committee did follow the constitution, which does not require in-person voting. They argue that all-mail voting still ensures that ballots are cast at “polls,” as the constitution requires. They defined “polls” as the location where the committee designated mail-in ballots to be sent as well as the secure ballot drop boxes.
The mail-in election does not violate the rule against absentee voting, as all-mail voting is different from absentee voting, the defendants state in their opposition. That opposition brief was submitted by Alexandra Deal, the attorney for the tribal council members, and R. Reid LeBeau II, attorney for the election committee members. The attorneys did not respond to requests for comment Monday, nor did tribal council Vice Chairperson Jesse "Little Doe" Baird.
The defendants argued that voting in person could risk serious, and even deadly, health consequences.
“In the extraordinary time of a worldwide pandemic, the priorities and needs of the Tribe have changed,” their opposition states, “and the Tribal Council has determined that in-person voting on election day during a 3-hour window at a single polling location is no longer a tenable option for the 2021 Regular Election.”
The defendants also argued that the defendants, as members of the tribal council and election committee being sued in their official capacities, are immune from being sued as they are "entitled to sovereign immunity from unconsented (lawsuits) as officers of the tribe."
John “Jim” Peters Jr., a member of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and executive director of the Massachusetts Commission on Indian Affairs, was also on the tribe’s constitution committee. One of the justifications for not allowing mail-in ballots, he said, was that tribal members live all over the country, and not everybody knows what is happening in Mashpee and might make uninformed decisions. But the constitution was never written to prevent the tribal council from having flexibility to meet the needs of the tribe, he said.
“I understand both sides of it,” he said. “Given the pandemic, it’s kind of difficult to require people to come to the tribal grounds and so forth.”
Grand jury subpoenas more documents from Mashpee tribe
Jessica Hill
Aug 29, 2020
MASHPEE — The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Council voted in an emergency meeting Friday night not to remove Chairman Cedric Cromwell. The vote came after the tribe received another subpoena related to a federal grand jury investigation.
On the meeting agenda, listed under executive session, was a discussion of “grand jury subpoena” with tribal attorney Benjamin Wish. Also on the agenda was an item labeled “committees, commissions, appointments, resignations and removals.”
The council voted 5-3, with one abstention, not to remove Cromwell from the position he has held since 2009, a source with knowledge of the vote told the Times.
As part of a grand jury investigation, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Boston subpoenaed the tribe demanding records related to its elections and finances.
The Aug. 10 subpoena was signed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Wichers on behalf of U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling. In lieu of a tribal representative appearing physically in court before the grand jury Aug. 25, it requested all records be sent electronically to Wichers.
The subpoena requested all documents and records for the 2013 and 2017 tribal council chairperson elections. It requested a list of registered voters eligible to vote during those elections and a list of people who actually voted, along with the final certified election results.
It also called for documentation identifying the number of tribal members for each year between 2011 and 2020 along with any other annual census data.
The tribe also was to send any complaints it had received related to the elections, the candidate or any candidate’s campaign, and submit policies or rules related to campaign contributions and campaign expenditures.
Finally, the subpoena requested copies of all contracts between the tribe and the Robinson Green Beretta Corp. from January 2011 to the present. It also requested the minutes from January 2014 to the end of 2016 of all meetings of the committee that selected the corporation to work with the casino and from the committee that was authorized to terminate Robinson Green Beretta Corp.
The Robinson Green Beretta Corp. served as the owner’s project manager for the design and construction of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Community and Government Center on Great Neck Road South, which was completed in 2012. It also took on the role of owner’s representative in 2014 for the tribe’s First Light Resort & Casino, according to the company website, working with the tribe and the Genting Group, the tribe’s financial backer.
The $1 billion casino project in Taunton is at a standstill amid a yearslong legal battle over tribal sovereignty. Without the projected millions of dollars in revenue, the tribe has struggled with its finances.
This latest subpoena comes about two months after a federal grand jury issued a subpoena requesting all personnel records for Cromwell, Treasurer Gordon Harris and former Treasurer Robert T. Hendricks, as well as Mark Harding, founder of construction company WampWorx, and Louis Catarina Jr., who helped manage development for the First Light Resort & Casino project.
The June 5 subpoena requested many of the tribe’s financial records, including copies of checks, expense reports and payments to other organizations. It also sought documents concerning any internal or external investigation or audit looking into any suspected theft, embezzlement or other wrongdoing by a tribe official, employee or contractor.
Last year, a federal grand jury subpoenaed Harris and Hendricks, but the reason is still unclear.
Federal grand jury investigations are traditionally secret, with about two dozen citizens serving as jury members to examine documents to determine if sufficient evidence exists that a crime occurred.
Cromwell and Harris also had faced allegations last year from some tribe members who accused them of wrongful conduct in connection with $500 million owed to the Genting Group.
In June 2019 a robocall circulated within the tribal community alleging that $250 million handled by the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Gaming Authority was unaccounted for.
In January 2019, the tribal council had taken a vote of no-confidence and stripped Cromwell of his financial responsibilities in connection with the tribe and the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Gaming Authority. Cromwell is president of that five-member board that oversees the tribe’s gaming operation.
The tribal council, however, voted in February 2019 to restore all of Cromwell’s financial responsibilities.
Last fall, some tribe members sought to recall Cromwell and Harris for malfeasance, but the tribe’s Election Committee canceled the recall election three days before it was to take place.
Cromwell did not respond to a request for comment Saturday. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts also did not respond to a request for comment about the investigation.
Wish, the tribe’s attorney, said the tribe would comply with the grand jury’s requests for information.
'A triumph' Interior Department withdraws appeal in Mashpee tribe's land-in-trust case
Jessica Hill Cape Cod Times
Published Feb 19, 2021
In a big victory for the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, the U.S. Department of the Interior on Friday withdrew its appeal in U.S. District Court in the tribe's land-in-trust case.
“Today is sakôhsuwôk, a triumph,” said Jessie “Little Doe” Baird, the tribe's vice chairwoman, in a statement late Friday afternoon. The decision was a win "for the citizens of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and our Ancestors who have fought and died to ensure our Land and sovereign rights are respected," she said.
The Department of Interior filed a motion Feb. 18 for the voluntary dismissal of its appeal, wrote Rachel Heron, attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice Environmental and Natural Resources Division.
The case was part of a long battle for tribal sovereignty, which stemmed from a $1 billion casino the tribe wanted to build in Taunton.
U.S. Rep. William Keating, D-Mass., also hailed the decision Friday.
"The claim that the Tribe of the First Light, the Tribe of the First Thanksgiving was not an original Native American Tribe has always been disingenuous," he said in a statement. "And the Trump Administration’s sudden attempt to remove their land from trust last March — in the midst of a pandemic — was heartless. We’re reassured that the Biden Administration’s action today clearly reflects the best interest of justice ..."
The tribe had asked the interior secretary to put about 151 acres of land in Taunton into trust so it could build a casino, as well as another 170 acres in Mashpee. While the assistant interior secretary approved it in 2015, neighbors of the proposed casino and others filed a lawsuit in opposition. They argued the government did not have the authority to take the land into trust in the first place.
In 2018, the Department of the Interior reversed itself, arguing the tribe was not under federal jurisdiction when the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 was established. The tribe appealed, but a federal judge in Boston ruled in favor of the reversal.
Then in June 2020, U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman found that the 2018 decision was “arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion and contrary to law.” He sent the case back to the Department of the Interior for “thorough reconsideration and reevaluation of the evidence.”
“We look forward to being able to close the book on this painful chapter in our history,” Baird said in the statement. “The decision not to pursue the appeal allows us (to) continue fulfilling our commitment to being good stewards and protecting our Land and the future of our young ones and providing for our citizens.”
State regulators wade through Mashpee tribe’s casino issues
By Colin A. Young / State House News Service
Posted Dec 6, 2019
Gaming Commission updated on Wampanoag’s ongoing legal battles.
BOSTON — As they continue to mull the question of issuing the final casino license available under an 8-year-old law, gaming commissioners were brought up to speed Thursday on the complex web of litigation and legislation surrounding the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe’s quest to secure land in trust, on which it intends to build a casino in Taunton.
The briefing from the Gaming Commission’s executive director and legal team was meant to give the decision-makers a sense of the ongoing legal wrangling over the decision to approve the tribe’s land in trust, which was granted by the Obama administration but overturned and thrown into doubt by the Trump administration. The tribe planned to construct its $1 billion First Light Resort and Casino on tribal land in Taunton, a project that would have a significant impact on the state’s commercial casino industry.
Region C, the commission’s name for Bristol, Plymouth, Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket counties, has been an unsettled matter for the commission for years. In 2016, when it appeared a tribal casino in Taunton was likely, regulators rejected a proposal for a commercial casino in Brockton. Since then, the commission has discussed reopening the bidding for Region C, but has not been in any rush to take that step.
“What we’re attempting to do here is to provide a framework for the beginning of that discussion,” Executive Director Edward Bedrosian told commissioners at the outset of the briefing Thursday.
A federal judge’s ruling later in 2016 nullified the Obama administration’s decision to grant the Wampanoag a 320-acre reservation on which the tribe planned to construct a resort casino and President Donald Trump’s administration last year officially reversed the Obama-era declaration.
Since then, the tribe’s efforts to secure its land in trust status have been tied up in federal court. Deputy General Counsel Todd Grossman walked commissioners through the three main cases at play. One is Littlefield et al. v. U.S. Department of the Interior, in which a judge ruled in 2016 that the land could not be held in trust. That verdict was appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and the appeal remains pending.
There’s also a case in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia — Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe v. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt — in which the tribe argues that the Department of the Interior secretary failed to properly consider extensive factual evidence it submitted to make the case that it should be eligible for land in trust.
Associate General Counsel Justin Stempeck told commissioners that the D.C. district case is “pending with multiple current summary judgment motions” and he estimated that no resolution would come until the latter end of a six- to nine-month window.
As the tribe works to secure its land in trust through the courts, U.S. Rep. William Keating, who represents Taunton and Mashpee, has pushed legislation that would use the power of Congress to reaffirm the 2015 decision by the Interior Department to take land into trust for the tribe, though Trump has opposed it.
The U.S. House of Representatives voted 275-146 in May to approve that bill, titled the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Reservation Reaffirmation Act, and it has not moved since being referred to the U.S. Senate that same month.
In addition to getting up to speed on the lawsuits and federal legislation involving the tribe, the commission also agreed in October to have its staff draft a request for information that would solicit information on all sorts of relevant Region C matters, like the state of the gaming market, local support and more.
Commission Chairwoman Cathy Judd-Stein said she was interested in questions that “reflect the struggle we have with respect to equity” and include an examination of the statewide implications of a Region C casino as well as the impact to the surrounding communities.
“I think we do have an obligation to consider the best interest of the commonwealth as well as the region,” she said. “It’s not lost on I don’t think any of us here that Region C folks, not all, may be interested in having a casino because of the economic benefits that we’ve seen coming through both regions A and B, yet we are not obligated ... to issue another license. So I am particularly interested in the question around the impact of Region C in the absence of our issuing a license.”
One concern, as expressed by local officials and others, is that commercial casino operators might not be willing to invest the minimum $500 million in a project that could have to compete with a nearby tribal casino. If the Gaming Commission opts to go ahead with licensing a commercial casino in Region C and the tribe is allowed to open its own casino under federal law, Massachusetts would receive no tax revenue from the tribal casino.
The commission did not vote to take any particular action Thursday but agreed to provide feedback on an eventual new draft prepared by staff at a later date.
Regulators want briefing on Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe’s casino status
By Colin A. Young / State House News Service
Posted Oct 24,2019
Gaming Commission appears in no hurry to act on Region C license.
BOSTON — Gaming regulators want to know the exact status of federal litigation around the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe’s quest to secure land in trust before making a decision about the state’s third casino license, although Gaming Commission members appeared in no rush Thursday to begin accepting applications for a Southeastern Massachusetts casino.
The state commission agreed to have its executive director and legal team work up a comprehensive briefing on the ongoing legal wrangling over the decision to grant the tribe land in trust, which was approved by the Obama administration but overturned and thrown into doubt by the Trump administration. The tribe planned to build its $1 billion First Light Resort and Casino on tribal land in Taunton, a project that would have a significant impact on the state’s commercial casino industry.
“The commission’s staff, our legal department, have been following the status of the federal legislation and litigation that relates particularly to the complicated tribal matter ... I think it’s probably a good time to actually update us more formally through a memorandum. It’s very complicated,” Chairwoman Cathy Judd-Stein said. “I do think probably that needs to be formalized, because it’s an important part of the overall Region C evaluation and discussion.”
The uncertainty of Region C — the commission’s name for Bristol, Plymouth, Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket counties — has been an issue for years. In 2016, when it appeared a tribal casino in Taunton was likely, regulators rejected a proposal for a commercial casino in Brockton. A federal judge’s ruling later that year nullified the decision to grant the Wampanoag a 320-acre reservation on which the tribe planned to construct a resort casino, and President Donald Trump’s administration last year officially reversed the Obama-era declaration.
Since then, the tribe’s efforts to secure its land-in-trust status have been tied up in federal court. U.S. Rep. William Keating, who represents Mashpee, has pushed legislation that would use the power of Congress to reaffirm the 2015 decision by the Interior Department to take land into trust for the tribe, though Trump has opposed it.
On Thursday, Sen. Marc Pacheco told the commission he has been trying to get clarity on where things stand with the tribe’s legal battles and the congressional efforts to address its concerns.
“I made a call before I came over to try to figure out what was happening at the federal level, and my sources tell me we probably won’t know too much until the end of the year,” Pacheco said.
Pacheco, who lives in and represents the city where the tribe hopes to build its casino, said he supports the commission’s plan to gather more information before making a decision one way or the other.
“I’m here to ask the commission to continue with your thoughtful deliberation about everything that is going on and to not make a decision, even though it may be in our best interest, because it’s within your jurisdiction under existing law to go out for a commercial casino if the commission chooses to,” he said. “If I know that there is absolutely no way that a Native American casino can come to be in Region C, I’d be one of the first people here to urge you to do so. But if that uncertainty still looms out there at any level, it will have a significant effect on those that even bid.”
The concern, as expressed by Pacheco and others, is that commercial casino operators might not be willing to invest the minimum $500 million in a project that would have to compete with a nearby tribal casino. If the Gaming Commission opts to go ahead with licensing a commercial casino in Region C and the tribe is allowed to open its own casino under federal law, Massachusetts would receive no tax revenue from the tribal casino.
Although the commission took no formal vote related to Region C, the decision to seek more information suggested it is in no hurry to make a ruling on the one remaining casino license.
Commissioner Enrique Zuniga stressed that it will be crucial for the commission to conduct its own economic analysis of the Region C market, noting that the two resort casinos that already have opened in other regions of the state are coming up short of their own revenue projections.
“I currently feel no sense of urgency ... if we have not seen the levels that the applicants themselves predicted, because they did predict certain revenues from year one and they’re not currently seeing those revenues,” Zuniga said. “I would rather, frankly, see how it goes, do more analysis and understand better how they’re competing in the market. It’s early, in my opinion.”
A spokeswoman for the Mashpee tribe did not respond to a request for comment Thursday night.
Cedric was not alone in selling us out. His Council cronies voted with him on every money transfer and bad deal ever made.
The tribe’s outside auditors had some bad news for the Council. They were not able to complete their audit because of the federal grand jury investigation. The current Treasurer, Gordon Harris, former treasurer Robbie Hendricks and according to our sources Cromwell business partner and former treasurer Mark Harding have all been subpoenaed to appear before a federal grand jury and it has possession of tribal financial records. The auditors do not have access to those documents. And the auditors querries got a donut from the feds
IT GOT WORSE
That tricky Gaming Commission. It was a dumping ground for millions of dollars each month. NO ONE EVER KNEW WHAT HAPPENED TO THAT MONEY or How it was spent.
So now the bill comes due. The auditors couldn’t get much intell out of the feds…actually nothing. But they
Yvonne, 30 years a council member never used her education or experience to help. Her silence was lethal as ever. Slithering into her hiding place like an eel.
know about these things. There’s a clause in the financial agreement with the investors that says that if there’s “bad faith” actions (and the auditor put it like this) :
” I’m not saying it happened, but let’s just say someone in the gaming commission took between $100,000 and $1m….then the tribal assets are at risk.”
That means what land we own etc. would go to Genting for payment. A drop in the bucket compared to what we owe them. Cedric and his ouncil Cronies knew about the fine print so why didn’t the tribal attorneys or any of them tell us? Well, they had to keep getting that money…at any cost.
So now we’re in a really bad place. Reel Wamps has to confess that pounding on Cedric Cromwell was not
enough. He didn’t create this horror show alone. He had a lot of help from the Council cronies. A really sorry lot. Jess$e Big Doe and Mark(ie) Poo Harding leading the parade. The ancestors are spinning in their graves. Everything Cedric did came with their vote of approval. Their complicity was tantamount to their participating in the felonymurder of the Tribe. Just because you didn’t pull the trigger does not absolve the guilt. You must have proof that you tried to stop the crime. They were cowards all the way. They should be held accountable.
Allegations against Mashpee Wampanoag tribal leaders come to head
By Tanner Stening
Posted Sep 8, 2019
Fate of Cromwell, Harris to be determined by Mashpee Wampanoag’s first recall election.
MASHPEE — Members of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe looking to unseat their top executive officers intend to make their case for financial mismanagement at the coming recall election, airing years of grievances that have led to often raucous infighting within a government on the verge of insolvency.
On Sunday, Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Chairman Cedric Cromwell and Treasurer Gordon Harris will face multiple allegations from a group of tribe members who accuse the two of malfeasance, or “wrongful conduct,” in connection with issues stemming from, among other things, the more than $500 million owed to the tribe’s financial backer, Genting Malaysia, and decisions to keep Tribal Council Vice Chairwoman Jessie “Little Doe” Baird in power after she resigned Jan. 25.
The hearing will be the tribe’s first recall election — a process written into the tribe’s constitution triggered by the submission of petitions to remove the officials in question that requires the signatures of 100 or more tribe members. The election would come roughly a week after the Times learned that Harris and his predecessor, Robert Hendricks, were subpoenaed by a federal grand jury, though it is unclear for what reason.
The petitioners also intend to argue that Cromwell has promoted his personal business interests while traveling and acting in his capacity as chairman.
Cromwell responded to the allegations in a letter addressed to the tribe’s Election Committee dated May 15, denying that charge and noting that Tribal Council voted not to accept Baird’s resignation letter.
″... therefore, there was no vacancy for the Vice Chair position,” Cromwell wrote.
He also touted the economic growth that took place under his leadership as a result of Genting’s commitment to loaning the tribe money to support its programs and services. Genting has since withdrawn its support after writing off its more than $440 million investment in the tribe as a loss in late 2018, forcing rounds of layoffs at the Mashpee Wampanoag headquarters.
“During my time as Chairman, the tribe has reached its highest number of employees of 130 despite the recent layoffs,” which, Cromwell says, were “out of the tribe’s hands.”
Petitioners also allege that Cromwell deprived the tribe of up to $500,000 in tribal employment rights ordinance fees. Known as TERO, the ordinances require that employers conducting business on reservations give tribes preference in all manner of employment, contracting and related activities, according to the Council for Tribal Employment Rights website.
Aaron Tobey Jr., a tribal council member and petitioner in the recall effort, said Cromwell’s alleged failure to negotiate and collect TERO funds is in relationship to the tribe’s affordable housing development project off Meetinghouse Road.
“He didn’t impose any fees, and that cost the tribe hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Tobey said in an interview.
Since his rise to power in 2009, Cromwell repeatedly has come under fire for his handling of the tribe’s finances. Factions critical of his administration have called for more transparency, rebuking attempts to raise the salaries of council members, including his own.
Throughout Cromwell’s tenure, those groups have attempted to rally tribe members to force open the administration’s books, including its casino records, and to protest the periodic silencing and shunning of members who’ve raised questions about its finances. Sources said recently that the tribe is operating without a membership-approved budget, and statements of expenses provided by the tribal government show a paucity of funds available for programs and services.
Of the $1.8 million the tribe had spent this year through July, nearly half, or $910,575, went toward salaries and fringe benefits, according to the sources.
According to the affidavit detailing the petitioners’ accusations, the tribe has paid Cromwell more than $1 million since he took office. Ten years later, the tribe has incurred more than $500 million in debt with “very little to show for it; no casino, no jobs,” and a mortgaged property in Taunton, where the tribe’s $1 billion casino-resort would be located, the affidavit says.
In January, Cromwell was temporarily stripped of his fiduciary powers after news surfaced of the $37,000 he and his wife, Cheryl Frye-Cromwell, owe the IRS, and business interests that were subpoenaed during the course of their divorce proceeding. The council has since reversed itself, voting to restore Cromwell’s fiduciary responsibilities and to rescind a vote of no confidence in his leadership.
A robocall that circulated within the tribal community in June alleged that $250 million handled by the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Gaming Authority is unaccounted for. The gaming authority is a five-member board governing the tribe’s long-stalled gaming operation. A 2016 financial audit of the tribe described the entity as a “discretely presented component of the tribe.” During that year, the authority transferred more than $17 million in cash and real estate to tribal operations. Cromwell is the president of the entity; Harris the treasurer.
“To date, we as tribal members do not know how this money is spent,” the robocall said. “Only Chairman Cromwell and Treasurer Gordon Harris have knowledge and access to how our $250 million has been spent.”
Tobey said he has felt the need to speak out against the administration’s handling of its finances to raise awareness within the tribal community.
“Cedric’s more like a shady politician than a tribal leader,” he said. “It’s unfortunate that the only source of objective reporting has to come from newspapers. We have nothing internally from within the tribe to hold them accountable.”
The tribe does have a publication, Mittark, that reports on tribal affairs. Tobey dismissed it as a “feel good” outlet that turns a blind eye to what’s going on within tribal government.
The Mashpee Wampanoag have had to borrow millions of dollars to fight a lawsuit brought by Taunton neighbors of the proposed First Light Casino & Resort. The Department of the Interior in September 2018 reversed a 2015 agency decision under the Obama administration that had taken 321 acres of land in Taunton and Mashpee into trust that effectively created the tribe’s reservation. Millions have been spent lobbying Congress and the Interior Department and fighting two separate legal battles — one contesting the agency’s Sept. 7 ruling and another appealing the ruling in the original suit.
Recall effort against Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe treasurer to advance
By Tenner Stening
Posted Jun 18, 2019
Committee certifies petition and will schedule election.
MASHPEE — An attempted recall of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe’s treasurer, Gordon Harris, is moving forward after the Election Committee certified a petition to oust him.
After falling short of signatures deemed valid by the committee upon their first submission, the three petitioners representing a movement to unseat Harris received an email from the committee stating it had certified 120 signatures — 20 more than required under the tribe’s constitution — and would schedule a recall election in the coming days.
The petition was one of three filed with the committee in recent weeks to expel the tribe’s leadership — Tribal Council Chairman Cedric Cromwell, Vice Chairwoman Jessie “Little Doe” Baird and Harris — over longstanding concerns over their handling of tribal finances, including the amount they receive in salaries.
The certification of the Harris petition comes several weeks after the committee certified 104 signatures on a petition to remove Cromwell from power, which also required two submissions. It also comes after tribe members circulated a robocall urging attendance at a general membership meeting earlier this month, highlighting the more than $500 million in debt owed to Genting Malaysia, the tribe’s financier, and the contention that the tribe “has no money coming in” while its leaders use federal grants to continue to pay themselves inflated salaries.
The Times could not identify the source of the call but confirmed that several tribe members did receive it.
The tribe spent $1 million from its general fund between January and the end of April, leaving it with $281,203, according to a statement of revenues and expenditures for that period obtained by the Times. But the grant fund shows a net loss of $662,849 from that time period, according to a statement for that account. Nearly all of the $679,513 in state and federal grant revenue was spent on tribal salaries and fringe benefits, the statement shows.
Complaints accompanying the three petitions against the tribe’s leadership cited, among other things, the debt owed to Genting and decisions to keep Baird in power after she resigned Jan. 25 as reasons for the recall, according to documents obtained by the Times.
The effort to remove Baird fell short of the required signatures.
The complaint against Harris alleges he missed the February and April monthly general membership meetings and all four Tribal Council meetings held in April — an offense the petitioners believe amounts to “nonfeasance” as outlined in the tribe’s constitution.
WASHINGTON — The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe is halfway home.
After several attempts over many weeks to move the legislation to a vote, the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Reservation Reaffirmation Act, a bill aimed at putting an end to a protracted legal fight challenging the tribe’s trust eligibility under the Indian Reorganization Act.
Lawmakers voted 275-146 to approve the measure under regular order. The bill was introduced by U.S. Rep. William Keating, D-Mass., earlier this year.
In a statement issued by the tribe, Tribal Council Chairman Cedric Cromwell praised Democrats and Republicans for coming together.
“What they demonstrated today on the House Floor was nothing short of genuine understanding of my people, the Mashpee Wampanoag,” he stated.
“Our Tribe has suffered so much in the past from the United States’ failure to protect our land -- today the House of Representatives acted to change that history, and to help us take one step closer towards a better and more secure future for the Mashpee people” Cromwell said.
Last month, Keating and his colleagues had tried to pass the bill on a suspension of the rules, a process that expedites so-called noncontroversial bills. It appeared headed for passage last week before President Donald Trump issued a tweet urging Republicans to vote against it, saying it would allow a “special interest casino” backed by U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., to move forward.
“Had President Trump not tweeted about this bill, it would have likely passed on suspension,” U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Pa., said before Wednesday’s vote.
As anticipated, the bill was the subject of much debate on the House floor, highlighting deep divisions between Rhode Island and Massachusetts lawmakers over the tribe’s plan to build a $1 billion casino-resort in Taunton, as well as the impact of millions of dollars spent lobbying on the issue.
Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo and her state’s federal legislative delegation have long expressed opposition to the bill, saying the tribe’s casino project would hamper their state’s gambling revenue. U.S. Reps. David Cicilline and James Langevin, both Democrats, expressed their opposition on the floor.
“It would be the first time Congress ever reversed a final federal court ruling,” Cicilline said, referring to a finding from a federal judge in 2016.
That judge ruled that the secretary of the Interior Department did not have the authority to take the tribe’s 321 acres of land into trust because the tribe was not under federal jurisdiction at the time of the passage of the Indian Reorganization Act in 1934, and therefore did not qualify under a definition of “Indian” used by the Department of the Interior.
Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., led the opposition to the bill, contending that the tribe selected Taunton as the site for its planned casino because of its proximity to the Rhode Island gambling market — a process referred to as “reservation shopping.”
“H.R. 312 is contrary to the view of the Department of the Interior ... and it aims to reverse federal court decisions on this matter,” Gosar said.
In a fiery speech on the House floor, Keating defended the merits of the legislation, noting that it’s “not about gaming” but about “justice.”
“Tragically, like so many Native Americans, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe have lived through centuries of injustices,” he said. “After nearly 250 years since our country’s founding, we would not be where we are without them. They deserve that dignity, they deserve that respect and they deserve that sovereignty.”
The vote follows increased public scrutiny of Rhode Island-based Twin River Management Group for its ties to several high-powered lobbyists linked to Trump. The company, which manages the state’s two casinos, paid Black Diamond Strategies $30,000 during the first quarter of this year, according to federal filings. Twin River paid Cove Strategies $30,000 in the same quarter.
Matthew Schlapp, who works for Cove Strategies, was an early Trump supporter and chairman of the American Conservative Union, which organizes the annual Conservative Political Action Conference. Schlapp also is married to Trump’s director of strategic communications, Mercedes Schlapp.
However, lobbying spending by the tribe’s financial backer, Genting Malaysia, has appeared so far to outpace efforts opposing the bill. Genting spent more than $1 million on various lobbying firms in 2018 in connection with the cause, three times more than it did in 2017, according to federal lobbying disclosures.
The House also voted 323-96 to pass H.R. 375, the so-called “clean Carcieri fix” introduced by Rep. Tom Cole, R-Oklahoma, under a suspension of the rules.
The bill would reverse the 2009 Supreme Court decision, known as Carcieri v. Salazar, which established that the secretary of the Interior could not take land into trust for tribes that were not under federal jurisdiction before 1934, at the time of the passage of the Indian Reorganization Act. Carcieri v. Salazar increased the burden of proof tribes had to meet to qualify for trust status.
Since neighbors of the tribe’s Taunton casino successfully sued the Department of the Interior in 2016, the Carcieri decision has stood in the way of the tribe, leading to the original finding out of the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts.
With respect to the Mashpee legislation, Cole said there had been “a lot of misinformation put out” following Trump’s tweet.
“This is a bill about keeping our federal promises to tribes,” he said.
The bill now will go before the Senate for review. The second leg of the journey may prove a tougher track. Warren’s presidential bid has cast a shadow on the potential for bipartisan support in the Senate and the likelihood that Trump will sign it into law.
Warren previously was a co-sponsor of a Senate version of the bill, but she has since distanced herself from the legislation.
In a telephone interview following the vote, Keating said he was pleased with the number of Republicans who signed on with their support.
“I’m just glad we had the opportunity within less than a week’s time to show that the House is an independent body that can deal in a bipartisan way on fundamental legislation,” he said. “This could have well been a death knell for the tribe.”
May 1, 2019 https://www.capecodtimes.com/news/20190515/house-affirms-mashpee-wampanoags-sovereignty?utm_source=SFMC&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=The%20Cape%20Cod%20Times%20daily%202019-05-16&utm_content=GTDT_CCT&utm_term=051619
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