Getting ready for the move!

Wow, time flies. We have seven working days left before the move to our new Administration Building. Our departments are currently packing their offices. I want to apologize in advance, some services might be unavailable while we move. We’ll do our best and the main reception desk will still be open, but many of the offices that are moving will be closed the 10^th and 11^th.

I can’t wait to see you all in the new building! Again, I know there will be hiccups and we’ll have some growing pains, but this building will really change the way we deliver services. It will bring our departments together, improve communication and make it easier for tribal members to fill out applications, learn about programs and get the help they need.

We live in exciting times. I can’t believe how much tribal government has changed in the short time I’ve worked here. And I can’t wait to see what the next few years bring. Once again, thanks for your patience while we move, and see you September 14^th at the Administration Building!

cisanla;

Shelly L. Lacy

Fire destroys home

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Troy, Kathy and the Queen family who lost their home this morning in a fire. Everyone made it out of the home although one person had to be taken to the hospital for singes and smoke inhalation. The family has already been placed in temporary housing and the Red Cross is making sure they get some of the help they need.

I really commend the family members for looking after each other and making sure that everyone was as safe as possible. I know the family will have a lot to deal with in the near future. The family has already received offers of assistance from our community and I know that all of our friends and neighbors will be there to help the Queen family through this difficult time.

The Tulalip Police Department and Snohomish County Fire Marshals are still investigating the cause of the fire. I really want to thank all of the emergency personnel who responded to the incident. Tulalip Bay, Getchell, Marysville and several other fire departments all responded this morning. These men and women risk their lives doing this work and I just want to commend and honor them for the work that they do.

To the family, keep you heads up. I know we’ll help in any way we can. And for our community, keep an eye on the blog and the See-Yaht-Sub for more information about how you can help the Queen Family.

cisanla;

Shelly L. Lacy

The Future of Tulalip

Just a reminder, the Community Meeting on the Vision Plan is tonight. This is to get final community comment, before it is brought to the Board for approval. I am hoping that you will join us to comment on this very important document for our future and our children’s future. The Vision Plan is the document that plans for development in the future, it shows how the reservation will grow and change as our population increases and how we’ll put our limited land base to the best use.

Special Projects Manager Patti Gobin will introduce the plan, then, Rich Franko from Mithun will give a PowerPoint presentation of the plan. After the presentation, tribal members will have a chance to make comments and bring up their concerns about the plan. Once again, this is the last chance for comment before we present this plan to the Board of Directors. I hope you’ll join us tonight to learn and to help shape the future of the reservation!

Dinner will be served at 5:00pm and the meeting begins at 5:30pm. For more information contact my office 360-716-4369.

cisanla;

Shelly L. Lacy

Proud to be Tulalip

What an exciting day! The Deputy Attorney General, Associate Attorney General, staff from the US Department Justice and tribal justice experts from around the nation visited Tulalip. They took a quick tour of our reservation and learned how Tulalip administers law and justice our way. They met our tribal court staff and our elders’ panel. They learned about our alternative sentencing program, juvenile diversion panel and domestic violence program. Then they toured our police department and beda?chelh facilities before heading to the board room.

The Department of Justice has committed to partner with tribes to improve law and justice delivery to Native American communities. Today they announced that the Department of Justice is awarding more than $5 million in grants from Recovery Act funds to Washington State Tribes. What does that mean for Tulalip? It means that the tribe is receiving $899,999 for the creation of a safe house for victims of domestic violence. Those funds include five full-time jobs, to operate and oversee the program. Tulalip will also receive $423,170 from the 2009 Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grant. That money will fund two additional tribal police officers for three years.

Currently, Tulalip funds 97% of tribal court operating and staffing costs. These grants mean that we’ll be able to free up some of those funds to strengthen other services that we provide to our tribal members. But, it’s not only the funds that are important. During this tour we really showed the Department of Justice that tribes know what we’re doing. That we are capable and that we are already making a difference for our people.

It made me really proud to see all of our staff and some of the groundbreaking programs that we provide. Sometimes when you work with the programs on a daily basis, you forget just how effective and innovative our team members are. Then to have the Department of Justice see the programs and understand that we are making the right choices for our people, that was really exciting. Showing them that in Indian country we are doing the right thing, we’re finding ways to protect our vulnerable populations and we’re rehabilitating community members that have made some poor choices in their lives.

I just can’t say enough how proud I am of the staff and the leadership (past and present) that got us to where we are today. And I also want to commend our Board of Directors. I know when you live a small community, it’s really easy for our leadership to micromanage. Our Board has been very careful to stay out of court and police proceedings. They really work hard to keep politics out of our law and justice system.

But mostly, it’s our tribal members. Our community works very hard to stay true to our teachings. To uphold our people, instead of tearing them down. Today, I really remembered why I’m proud to be a Tulalip tribal member.

cisanla;

Shelly L. Lacy

Want to work for Tulalip?

There are several jobs currently open. If you want to work with kids the Tulalip Boys and Girls Club is looking for a Digital Arts Manager and a Learning Center Manager. The Digital Arts Manager will develop a Digital Arts program for the Tulalip Boys and Girls Club. They will use modern technology like digital photography, web design and movie making to help our youth express their creativity. The Learning Center Manager will help our kids learn and grow by using the Accelerated Reader, Math Facts in a Flash and other programs in the computer lab. If you’re interested fax or mail or resume and cover letter by September 4^th to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Snohomish County. 4322 Rucker Ave, Everett, WA 98203. Email hr@bgsc.org for more information.

Quil Ceda Village is advertising three open positions, a Clinical Pharmacist, Software Developer in Test and a Web Design Specialist. And the Casino Resort has 16 regular positions and three on-call positions open. For more information about these positions, or to see the full job description check out our employment website http://employment.tulaliptribes-nsn.gov/.

Employment can help

The Employment Department will be doing a “skill placement evaluation” on September 10^th, 2009. At this time Employment staff will help tribal members complete their applications and administer skills tests. Pre-employment Specialist Lynne Bansemer is always available to help prospective employees with applications and interview skills. You can reach Lynne at 360-716-4746, or by e-mail lbansemer@tulaliptribes-nsn.gov. For tribal members who want to work on-call, Dispatch Specialist Melissa Paul can help you find a temporary position that matches your skills. You can reach Melissa at 360-716-4290.

Need training?

The Tulalip College Center has several classes to improve job skills scheduled for this Fall quarter. Construction Industry Trades is a 28 day program designed to prepare trainees for entry-level construction, remodeling or pre-apprenticeship jobs. For more information about the program contact Mark Newland, 360-653-1242 or Wendy Thompson, 360-716-4759. Tribal Enterprise Management Classes are also being offered. These are the classes that help prepare you for jobs at the hotel and casino and tribal government. They include basic classes like Accounting, Computer Literacy and Intro to Business, but they also include more specialized classes like Introduction to Hotel Management, Intro to Hospitality and Coaching and Mentoring.

Tulalip College Center classes are funded through the NACTEP program. The program provides tuition, books and fees for Native Americans, and spouses or parents of Tulalip Tribal Members. The Tulalip College Center is holding a One-Stop Registration for classes on Wednesday, August 26^th, from 10am to 2pm, and on Thursday, August 27^th, from 1pm to 5pm.

Keep at it!

I want to encourage everyone who is applying for jobs, taking classes, or working to improve your employability. I know it’s really tough, whether you’re just getting started, looking for a new career or have had a break and are trying to get back into the workforce. You’ll have some disappointments and some frustrations, but keep at it. Our staff works really hard to get our tribal members into the right jobs, they’ll help you work on whatever skills you need to get the type of job that you want. I can’t wait to work with you, our future employees!

Tulalip youth need your support

For those of you who don’t know, I and Marysville School District Indian Education Manager Chrissy Dulik-Dalos are co-chairing the 2010 Tulalip Boys and Girls Club Auction. Our theme for this auction is Denim and Diamonds. We’re working really hard to make the auction a little more down to earth and fun again, but we need your help! The money for the Tulalip Boys and Girls Club auction directly benefits the Tulalip community and we need our community members to step up to the plate and help make it a success. We’re looking for live and silent auction items, Native American art is always a favorite at the auction (hint, hint J ) If you have any ideas, would like to help prepare the auction, or if you can donate an auction item, please contact my office, 360-716-4369.

The auction will be held in May at the Tulalip Casino Resort. Keep an eye on the blog for more information as we get closer and thanks for supporting our kids!

cisanla;

Shelly L. Lacy

Week's End

It’s the end of the week and I want to thank all my team members for a job well done. Our tribal government employees are working hard to improve services to you, our tribal members. This week our Indian Education Parent Committee met for the first time about the 2009/10 school year. They talked about falling test scores and how to better meet our children’s needs.

Our Health Clinic staff did a fantastic job, as usual, on the 26^th Annual Tulalip Health Fair. Cardiovascular health was the focus for this year’s health fair. There were 32 education booths to educate and inform tribal members about preventative medicine, healthy hearts, diabetes and other preventable diseases. Don “Penoke” Hatch spearheaded the blood drive and recruited community members to donate blood to the Puget Sound Blood Center. In all, the center collected 68 pints of blood. Each pint can potentially save 3 people. So, kudos Tulalip, we may have saved 204 lives!

Thanks again to our Lushootseed Department, our community members and our kids for all your work in making the Lushootseed Language Camp a success. For two weeks in a row our teachers, youth workers, volunteers, and students worked hard learning the language and making gifts for their giveaway. The play was wonderful. It makes my heart happy and I’m just so proud when I see our children speaking the language of our ancestors.

We’ve set dates for administration move-in. I know, you’ve heard that before. Believe me, I’ve gotten a little frustrated about all the setbacks, but this is it. Our traffic signals are in place and the construction crew is putting the finishing touches on our dXdiGidteGelalftX, or Administration Building. The new building will be open for business on September 14^th. Some tribal government departments may be closed on September 10^th and 11^th while we move our things to the new building, so I apologize in advance for the inconvenience. The first visitors meeting in the new Board Room will be held on October 3^rd from 9-12:00, and we’ll have our Grand Opening and open house the same day, starting at 12:00.

We’ve got some exciting events planned for next week, like our sGaaGateGel Community Meeting. We’ll be hearing from Patti Gobin in Special Projects and Mithun Architects about the Tulalip Tribes Vision Plan. I really hope you can make it to the meeting to give us your input about how the reservation will look in the future. The meeting will be held next Thursday, August 27^th, in the tribal gym. Dinner is served at 5:00pm and the meeting starts at 5:30pm.

Be sure to watch the blog for updates next week. Hoyt!

cisanla;

Shelly L. Lacy