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| Not Pictured: Charles Head. |
Bill John Baker has made his nominee for Secretary of State and it’s a guy named Charles Head. Head, the current BIA boss in Muskogee, is taking the place of Melanie Knight, who resigned.
Knight, on her way out the door, sent an all employee email saying “The Nation has all of the tools for success and the opportunities with what we have built are endless. The most valuable resource is each of you; as individual employees and teams your work determine our success as a Nation.”
Baker, nominating Head, said: “With his experience working with the federal government and tribes across this area, Charles Head is a natural fit to be secretary of state…. His talents have served the Cherokee Nation well in the past and they will once again be a tremendous asset.”
Baker points out that Head has a lot of good experience working with tribes in this area, but what might trouble some is his experience with one tribe in particular. The last we heard from Mr. Head, he was busy telling the Cherokee Nation that the BIA was going to put the UKB’s casino land into trust unless the Cherokee Nation objected.
We’re sure he was just doing his job. But the Secretary of State for the Cherokee Nation is supposed to stand up for the Cherokee Nation’s sovereignty, and it’s a little scary that the guy Baker is nominating to do that is the guy who was attacking our sovereignty last month.
Head’s nomination is on the Rules Committee agenda for Tuesday.
Another interesting thing is that Baker’s nomination includes a time frame, a four-year term for Head to serve, from January 2012 to January 2016. The constitution says each chief gets to appoint his/her own Secretary of State, and Baker’s current term expires August 14, 2015. If Baker’s re-elected, Head should be golden, but if not, then by the constitution he’ll be out unless the new chief asks him to stay. It’s silly to try to write a law that says otherwise, but that’s what is before the council.
There are several other important agenda items on the Rules committee agenda for Tuesday. Be sure and check it out if you can.
