Accountability Watch, Part 2: When in Rome Edition

Thanks to the fine folks at the Native American Times, we can all read the text of Bill John Baker’s inauguration speech.  From reading it, we can see why some of the folks that went spoke highly of the event.  The speech was well written.  We’re sorry he didn’t take the opportunity to tell us what policy he was referring to that kept employees from talking to their council members, but instead told us that it existed and we should believe him.

He said he made five promises during the campaign that he planned on keeping, so we’ll take this as a challenge for all of us to keep him accountable.

#1: He’s selling Cherforce One and is currently taking bids.

#2: He’s going to have Cherokees build houses for other Cherokees by reactivating the Housing Authority to build hundreds of homes.

#3: He will ‘more fully audit the nation’s books to find more money to help our people,’ having Lacey Horn replace Callie Catcher.

#4: More money for contract health

#5:  A $200 elder stipend every six months for Cherokees ‘in need.’

We’re glad Baker is willing to be held accountable to these, and possibly other promises.  He, of course,  has to find money to pay for these new projects, and if Lacey Horn finds it all in her audits, she will definitely be earning her keep.

22 Days Until the New Election: Pants on Fire!

Our evening did not go according to plan.  We had a blog ready to go, until we got a phone call and had to write a new blog.  Because if there is one thing you can’t do to us here at Cherokee Truth, its call us up on the phone, act surly, and lie to us.  And that’s what happened tonight.

We got phone call(s) that said, to the best of our note taking ability: “For 12 years Chad Smith has refused to audit the casino’s finances but Bill John Baker will order an independent audit to make sure that casino money goes for services to the Cherokee people and not to line the pockets of campaign contributors and vendors.  I hope that Bill John can earn your vote in the upcoming election.”

As readers of the Cherokee Truth know, this is a lie and worse-- Baker knows it is a lie!  As we showed everyone in May, 53 Days before the June election, the Cherokee Nation and its businesses are audited every year and win awards.  Mr. Baker knows this, because the audit is not only presented to the CNB Board (of which he is an advisory member,Resolution R-52-10) but also the council’s executive and finance committee just a few months ago.

Not only are the audits for the past 10 years available online, but video footage of Baker sitting and listening to the audit being presented is also available online!

The auditor even talks about the special audit of JUST THE CASINOS, which is sent to the feds every year for compliance purposes.

There’s also the Tulsa World story that cites a national rating company for praising Cherokee Nation for its "careful and conservative governmental financial management" and for its "ability to manage cash flow issues." It goes on to tout Cherokee Nation's creation and expansion of non-gaming businesses like health care and information technology. 

To sum up:  The casinos are audited every year.  They win awards for their clean audits.  Baker knows this and lies about it anyway.  Apparently he thinks no one will notice that he’s not telling the TRUTH. He must think we’re all stupid and can’t look up readily accessible public information that shows he’s lying.

We’re sure the Cherokee Nation isn’t perfect, and Baker can certainly point out all the flaws he wants, but if he has to lie to people to create problems with the Cherokee Nation, that says more about him than it does anyone else.

53 Days Until the Election - Audits & Transparency

In this election, we've heard a lot about transparency, access to information and the need to audit the government and it's businesses. 


The Truth? The Cherokee Nation and it's businesses are some of the most audited entities in the state of Oklahoma. For Cherokee Nation Businesses (CNB) alone, 6 independent and separate audits are done each year, and when you look at CNB and The Cherokee Nation Gaming Commission together, there’s probably 30 or 40 independent internal auditors that work on the various entities at any given time. And they've received clean reports and favorable audits.


But don't take my word for it. Watch for yourself. Sure, it's kind of boring, but it's the truth. 


The link below is to video from last week's (4/28/11) audit report of all of Cherokee Nation's businesses to the Cherokee Nation Tribal Council Executive Finance Committee by Don Williams, partner at the accounting firm BKD, the 10th largest accounting firm in the United States. BKD professionals performed the audits described above in addition to ongoing internal audits inside Cherokee Nation's businesses. 


Click here to watch Mr. Williams report, found approximately 00:36:50 into the committee meeting.

The following link is to a recent short article in the Tulsa World on April 17, 2011. Click here
Here is a clipping as well:

This report refers to the tribal government, and praises Cherokee Nation on its "careful and conservative governmental financial management" and for its "ability to manage cash flow issues." It goes on to tout Cherokee Nation's creation and expansion of non-gaming businesses like health care and information technology. 


If you want to know more about Cherokee Nation's budget, financials, travel expenses of elected officials or maybe want to know more about where the casino money goes, just click here. This information is currently available and has been available to the public for years.