Thanks For Smoking

Last month, the Cherokee Nation Tribal Council voted unanimously to pass a law that subsidizes the sale of tobacco.  So, the Nation is now in the position of buying billboards that say “Tobacco Stops With Me,” while at the same time paying people to sell you tobacco at below-market prices.

Here’s the deal: The Cherokee Nation is going to take $725,000 of the Cherokee people’s money and give it to the people who own the land that the smoke shops sit on.  Which means that the people who run the smokeshops don’t actually have to pay their rent anymore, the Cherokee Nation is picking up the tab.

Which is actually good news, because if the Cherokee Nation has close to a million bucks to subsidize the people who sell us cancer sticks, we’re sure that means they’ve already fully-funded health care and college scholarships, and of course, eyeglasses and dentures.   

We’re glad there are no longer any social problems that need to be addressed in the Cherokee Nation, and we anxiously await the roll-out of subsidies for folks at liquor stores and perhaps the fine folks at Hostess because the price of Ding-Dongs is getting just a little too high for our diabetes-riddled communities.

How the Freedmen Deal Went Down Part IV: Are You Okay With Being Lied To By Your Government?

Over the last week or so (in parts I-III), we’ve established that the Cherokee people are being lied to about how the Freedmen miraculously became citizens just days before last fall’s elections.  Joe Crittenden was asked to supply all the communications he had with the BIA and the Freedmen as he negotiated a deal to make them citizens, but all Crittenden turned over were a bunch of all-employee emails which appears someone else wrote and signed his name to, and receipts for this trip to DC so he could get paid some cash money for going to our Nation’s capital and selling HIS Nation’s constitution down the river.

So, what are you, the Cherokee citizens, going to do about it?  You’ve been lied to, and there is a cover-up going on!  Documents that exist have not been turned over as required by law, and no explanation has been given as to why.

On this blog, we only care about the TRUTH.  And nothing makes us madder than when people lie to the Cherokee people.  Crittenden will get away with the lie and his noncompliance with the law if the Cherokee people let them.

So here’s what you all need to do.  Get out a sharp pencil, a dull crayon, an old IBM Selectric or the writing utensil of your choice and send a Freedom of Information Act Request to Bill John Baker, Cherokee Nation, PO BOX 948, Tahlequah, OK 74464.

Write something like this:

Dear Chief Baker,

One of the pillars of your campaign and pledged hallmarks of your administration was transparency.  In the interest of the Cherokee people’s understanding of how people with no Cherokee blood became citizens of the Cherokee Nation just before September’s election, even though our Tribal Supreme Court had ruled they were not citizens.

Please provide ALL written emails, letters and phone call notes, travel, meeting dates and topics Acting Chief Joe Crittenden, and ANY of his staff, liaisons, contractors or other types of representatives have had with Larry Echo Hawk, Echo Hawk’s staff, BIA officials, DOI officials, Marilyn Vann, Jon Velie (attorney for Freedmen), any other Freedmen plaintiffs or representatives and DOJ concerning the Freedmen, citizenship for the Freedmen, pending Court cases, Judge Kennedy and anyone else associated with this important case for the past six months.  Please include the materials left out by Joe Crittenden in a previous FOIA request, including the letter(s) he sent to the BIA that the BIA acknowledges receiving but that Crittenden refused to disclose earlier.

Please respond to this request as required by LA 25-01, Cherokee Nation’s  Freedom of Information Act."

Or something like that.

Better yet, ask him to put the documents on the web.  Pester the folks at the Cherokee Phoenix about why they are ignoring the story and it’s coverup. 

Write your council members demanding to know what happened.

Write the Attorney General and point out Crittenden’s noncompliance.  It’s AG Todd Hembree's duty to make sure EVERYONE follows the law, including and ESPECIALLY elected leaders.  If our Constitution is ignored, supposedly for the greater good, we have a right to know how that happened.  We have a right not to be lied to and then have the TRUTH covered up.

Do it.  And if no one else will publicize what you find, rest assured we will always stand for the CHEROKEE TRUTH.

How The Freedmen Deal Went Down Part II: "Transparent and Truthful"

Yesterday we laid out the preview for today’s blog.  If you didn’t read it you need to.  Take some time and click here before continuing.

There.  That’s better.  Because you need that background to understand where we are today:  diving into a 94 page document that is supposed to be a “transparent and truthful” accounting of how the freedmen got to vote in the election.  Aside from the fact that S. Joe Crittenden (APCSJC) wanted them to because they “voted in June and voted in July and they may have helped put me in office. I believe they are entitled to vote again…” for his buddy Bill John Baker.

During this time, on September 13, APCSJC tells us that he is “pursuing political remedies that are in the best interest of the Cherokee Nation.”

The election is coming up on September 24.  There is a federal court hearing on September 20, when a judge is going to rule on whether the election can even happen, since the freedmen aren’t citizens anymore.  But when September 20 rolls around, Crittenden cuts a deal with the BIA and Freedmen that changes the rules of the elections and lets the Freedmen in.  So obviously that was a busy week for him, between the 13^th when he tells us he is ‘pursuing political remedies’ and the 20^th when those remedies come to fruition.  He even tells us that he is involved in the final nitty gritty of the deal making process: “We are still working out the final details, to be agreed upon among all the parties…” 

So when asked for all the documents, notes, emails, etc. about this deal, and given that he has promised to be transparent and truthful, what does APCSJC give us?  A big stinking pile of jack squat.

In the 94 page response seen here, there are emails and notes from all kinds of people, staff members and the attorney general.  But very few from APCSJC himself.  There are no emails from him to the BIA.  There are no notes of any conversations he had with the BIA.  There is no copy of any correspondence whatsoever between him and the BIA.  There is no correspondence between him and the freedmen of any kind, even though APCSJC himself tells us “we are working out the final details to be agreed upon among all parties…”  Did they communicate telepathically?  Use one of those secret languages only twins understand?  Or did APCSJC lie to us and hide documents?  Or did he never actually do anything at all, but only farm out the work to heaven knows who?

There’s a lot of evidence pointing to the fact that ACPSJC didn’t do anything himself.  For instance, there are several all-employee communications about the freedmen issue, (see pages 38, 39 and 40).  They were all sent by someone other than APCSJC, but they are signed with his name.  But there is no correspondence from APCSJC to those people showing that he actually wrote it!  If this is all the correspondence then someone wrote all the letters for APCSJC and then sent them out with his name on it.  There’s not even an email from APCSJC saying, yes, I approve of this draft you wrote!

But regardless, APCSJC is either hiding documents explaining why he decided to single-handedly agree to let freedmen be citizens even though our Constitution and Supreme Court say they can’t, or he didn’t make that decision himself at all and refuses to divulge who did actually make the decision.

To sum up, here's a short version of the TRUTH:  APCSJC was asked for every scrap of information and documentation.  He did not turn over any information or documentation about why he made the decision, even though he vowed to be truthful and transparent.  He did not even explain why he didn't turn over the information. 

Wow.  More on this tomorrow, but if this is “truthful and transparent” we are in for a long four years.

Council Members Accuse Baker of Secrecy

The UKB is trying to put their casino land into trust, and at least one council member thinks new chief Bill John Baker knew about it and didn’t tell the council.  According to news reports, the BIA sent a letter to the Cherokee Nation saying the UKB wanted to put their casino in trust, and no one knew about it until Monday night.

That made Jodie Fishinghawk pretty mad, so mad she managed to insult both Smith and Baker in 15 seconds or less.  She said, according to the Tahlequah paper, “I expected this sort of secrecy from the Chad Smith administration…Bill John, I did not expect it from you.”

This came up during the debate about the bill that would make the Cherokee Nation fight against anyone, including Baker’s inauguration buddy, UKB Chief George Wickliffe. And that no one knew about it, even though the BIA supposedly sent Baker a letter about it on November 4, and we only have 30 days to say we don’t like it.  

Dick Lay, a new council member, told the Cherokee Phoenix that “It stuns me that nobody has come to us before now with this information.  I’m just stunned and upset.”

  

The measure passed, and Baker now has to object to the UKB putting land into trust.  We wonder if that means the Baker/Wickliffe honeymoon is over. They are chiefs of different tribes, and sometimes what's good for one might be bad for another one. And no matter how Wickliffe slices it, the UKB isn't the Cherokee Nation, and Baker's job is to stick up for the Cherokee Nation, even if it makes Wickliffe and the UKB mad.

From Good to Great?

Baker has nominated a new treasurer.   In an all-employee email, since forwarded to Cherokee Truth, Baker said he wants Lacey Horn to replace Callie Catcher.  In the email, Baker tells us that she has a bachelors and masters degree from SMU and her previous experience includes a four-year stint as senior auditor with Chicago’s KPMG.  She is currently a CPA in Vian, her hometown. She graduated from Vian High School in 2000.  According to an online directory of businesses,

“Lacey A Horn Cpa, Pllc in Vian, OK is a private company categorized under Accounting and Bookkeeping Services. Our records show it was established in and incorporated in Oklahoma. Current estimates show this company has an annual revenue of $35,000 and employs a staff of approximately 1.”

Callie Catcher has been the treasurer of the Cherokee Nation since 2004.  Prior to that, she was controller of Dover Resources, where she was responsible for all financial functions for the international manufacturing group.  Dover’s revenues last quarter were $2.2 billion dollars.  That’s just in one quarter.  That works out to almost $9 billion in revenue per year.  That’s basically NINE times bigger than the Cherokee Nation.

When Catcher was confirmed, Baker voted for her to become Treasurer.  Joe Crittenden said “I have every confidence in her as a professional.”  Crittenden’s Adair County council cohort Jackie Bob Martin said, “We’ve best Secretary/Treasurer of any Indian tribe.”

So how has she done since then?  Well, the Cherokee Nation has won 10 straight awards for excellence in financial reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association for the Cherokee Nation’s “financial transparency and full accountability by exceeding the minimum requirements of generally accepted accounting principles demonstrated through comprehensive annual reports.”

That means the Cherokee Nation has done really well since Catcher became Treasurer.

Baker says one of his first orders of business is to have Horn audit Catcher’s work. 

So to sum up, Baker wants to replace a Cherokee who wins awards for financial excellence and has overseen finances for a multi-billion dollar company... with quite possibly the best CPA in Vian. 

Bill John Baker, The First Day

As we noted last night, there was an abrupt transition of power yesterday, as APCSJC moved down a spot on the pecking order and Baker was sworn in about 6 hours after the Supreme Court cleared the path for him to do so.

The abrupt transition apparently continued today.   Baker sent out an email today saying that he has appointed Chuck Hoskin, Sr. as his Chief of Staff and let six group leaders go, while putting three other “senior level employees” were put on administrative leave. 

It stands to reason that Baker will want to bring in some of his own people.  It also stands to reason that he’s seen the Cherokee Nation up close as a council member for the last eight years, and he even acknowledges that the folks Smith has had running the various departments have done a “good” (but not “great”) job. 

We hope that, in the interest of transparency, he'll tell us who he's putting on leave and who he's letting go, and maybe even why.  It would make sense for people who are doing a "good" job to keep doing it, right?

But Baker also told the Cherokee Phoenix last night that he was looking for a “‘world-class team of leaders’ to help guide the nation and said he needs suggestions from the Cherokee citizenry.”  So it looks like resumes are going to be accepted.

With Baker’s emphasis on Cherokee hiring, we assume that he’ll bring in Cherokees with better resumes and experience to replace any Cherokees who-- he says-- aren't "world-class."  Regardless, we hope that he’s treating Cherokee citizens and employees with courtesy, respect, and maybe some of those hugs he has left over from last night.

Election Limbo Part II, Day 13: What’s One More Week?

Yesterday, the election commission told us that even though we’ve already waited three and a half months since Election Day, and almost two months since inauguration of APCSJC, we still have to wait another week after voting ends tomorrow.

Usually on election night, they count the votes, declare a winner (unofficially), and they go home. Well, in June, their unofficial winner turned out to be different than their official winner, which may be why they want to take at least THREE DAYS to count the ballots this time, and then take up to another 48 hours after that to certify the election. That could put us into next Friday or Saturday.

The Election Commission did put out a news release about this, which is how we know, and they have some explanations:

“Because of the circumstances surrounding the special election for Principal Chief, the Commission has established a three-day process for counting the election results,” said Susan Plumb, chairperson of the Election Commission. “We know that this has been a long process and people are eager to know who will serve as the next Principal Chief, but the Commission must remain focused on its responsibility of providing the Cherokee people with an accurate, fair and impartial election.”

The commission says they will count walk-in votes on Sunday, then spend Monday processing absentee ballots, getting them ready to be counted. Why do they need a whole day? The commission has a reason: “12,000 registered Cherokee voters requested absentee ballots, which means there were more than 3,800 absentee ballots requested in special election than were requested in the June general election.”

That’s a bunch more absentee ballots. We know there were about 700 more walk-in votes on election day, but also that the increases mainly came in Smith areas. Now we find out that there are 3800 more mail-in votes possible (remember, not all those will be returned), and Smith had the edge on those in June as well, by about a 54-46 margin.

Which leads us to the last little chestnut from the election commission:

“Our sincerest hope is that the candidates will not speculate outcomes of this election until the last citizen’s vote is counted and that candidates will respect the Commission’s procedures and timelines that enable the Commission to fulfill its responsibility,” said Plumb.

We’re sure neither candidate would ever speculate--awwww… who are we kidding?? After all, they are going to count votes on Sunday, and presumably tell us who has the most, and then not count any more votes until Tuesday.

The ONLY thing that will happen between Sunday and Tuesday is speculation. Heck, there was speculation after the commission released TURNOUT figures about who was ahead, and we’re admittedly guilty of that (but at least we labeled it speculation). So Sunday night it will be interesting to see if our speculation from a couple of weeks ago is true: Did Smith gain ground on Baker in the walk-in votes? If so, by how much? If not, did Baker gain enough to offset what was a significant Smith advantage in mail-in votes in June, and might be larger considering how many more absentee ballots might now be in play?

Sorry Susan Plumb-- if it's going to take a week to tell Cherokees who their chief is, we’re pretty sure Cherokees will use that week to “speculate outcomes.”

Election Limbo Part II, Day 11: Know your Roll/Role

It is important to know your roll* as a council member.

Ever since the Cherokee Nation won its lawsuit against the freedmen (last week), there has been some discussion about the OTHER lawsuit with the freedmen, known by some as the Nash case.  Nash is the name of the one of the freedmen who sued the Cherokee Nation in Tribal court (and lost) over citizenship.  The Cherokee Nation sued him (and a bunch of others) back in federal court.

Baker and his lawyer, Chuck Hoskin Jr., are referring to this when they said that Smith “secretly cut a deal secretly cutting a deal with Congressmen in DC to allow the Freedmen to remain on the roles (sic)* as long as he was chief in exchange for HUD money.  Smith illegally cut this deal with a group of Congressmen without the knowledge or consent of the elected Cherokee Council.”

He also said that the  "Tulsa World further verified that Smith waived the Tribes (sic) sovereignty and we demand the details. The tribe's suit, which waived the Cherokee Nation's sovereign immunity only, in that case, was originally filed in Tulsa,’ the Tulsa World wrote.”

They asked Attorney General Diane “Hammonds”   to investigate this “secret deal.”

Well she did, and she released the results of her investigation today.  The Smith campaign liked it so much, they posted it online.

 

It’s just a couple of pages long, and it’s pretty straight forward.  She notes that the request for the investigation was filed 3 days before the election and immediately publicized by Baker’s campaign.  She also points out that Baker was well informed about the Nash case, despite his claims otherwise.

We did a little research of our own, based on Hammon’s analysis, and the more we looked the more Cherokee Truth came out. Here’s what we discovered:

On February 3, 2009, the Cherokee Nation issued a news release, which is still publicly available on the Cherokee Nation’s web site for all to see. It begins:

“TULSA, Okla.—The Cherokee Nation filed today a lawsuit asking a federal court in Oklahoma to resolve the long-standing dispute of whether non-Indian Freedmen descendants have a federal right to citizenship in the Cherokee Nation.  The Cherokee Nation is asking the court to confirm that Congress unilaterally modified the Treaty of 1866, and, as a result, the non-Indian descendants of those Freedmen have no federal rights to citizenship in the Cherokee Nation.”

It later has a quote from Smith:

“Last year, I assured members of Congress, including Barney Frank (D-MA), that if they would let the federal courts decide we would push to have the controversy heard on the merits,” Smith said.  “This filing today is the Cherokee Nation keeping its word, and letting the federal courts have a clear path to reaching a decision on the merits without compromising the Nation’s sovereign immunity, and without the risk of setting procedural precedents that may affect other tribes.  Members of Congress have said they will respect a federal court decision on this issue, and this is the quickest way to an impartial, apolitical, judicial solution."

Nothing secret going on here: There was and is a news release about it on the Cherokee Nation’s web

site.

There are also later media references to the case, including an Associated Press story. 

Just two days after the case was filed, Hammons told a council committee meeting about it (see the rules committee meeting minutes from February 5, 2009).  Smith talked to the full tribal council about it at the February Council meeting (see the council meeting minutes from February 17, 2009).  The full council voted on, and unanimously approved of the lawsuit in the March council meeting (see minutes of the March 16, 2009 council meeting).  

Unanimously, of course, means everyone on the council agreed.  Bill John Baker and Chuck Hoskin Jr. were both on the council during these meetings, and both men were in attendance.  Hammons was kind enough to pass along a PDF showing Baker and Hoskin had indeed approved it.

So not only is the "deal" not secret, Baker and the full tribal council were explicitly informed about the case--so much so that they agreed it was a good idea for it to move forward!

So, that said, let’s walk back through Baker’s quotes again after having done some cursory research that any Cherokee citizen could do for themselves.

Baker claims: “Smith illegally cut this deal with a group of Congressmen without the knowledge or consent of the elected Cherokee Council.”  WRONG. Council minutes referenced above show that the council, and any Cherokee who checked the Cherokee Nation web site, were proactively informed about the lawsuit.

Baker claims: “Tulsa World further verified that Smith waived the Tribes (sic) sovereignty and we demand the details.”  WRONG AGAIN.  And while we’re handing out demands, how about this: the Cherokee people demand you pay attention in the council meetings we pay you to attend!  The details you need are in the minutes from the meeting in 2009 when you voted IN FAVOR of the lawsuit you are now criticizing.

Smith had some choice words on the subject and he, rightfully, lets Baker have it with both barrels.  You can visit his facebook page if you want to find out more.  

Baker and Hoskin may have presented more evidence to Hammons, but the evidence that any Cherokee can find is clear:  the discussion of the Nash case was made in a very public way and approved by the very people who now claim not to know anything about it.  It doesn’t seem like they take their rolls** as council members very seriously if they don’t even know what they voted on.

  

*Probably a typo.  He probably meant tribal rolls, the list of Cherokee Nation citizens, not ‘tribal roles’

** We meant to use the wrong word here.  Because it is funny.  We know our role, as citizens on the Cherokee Nation’s rolls.  See?  It isn’t that hard really. But don't get us started on the difference between polls and poles.

Election Limbo Part II, Day 4: Welcome Back, Kotter Edition

Welcome Back, Kotter Carter!

The Cherokee Nation recommended that the Election Commission bring in a third party observer to watch the special election: the Carter Center, which observed Cherokee Nation’s 1999 election and was founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter to advance peace and health worldwide.

Well, we could use a little health and peace around here, and after watching the election, the Carter Center people already have written a little love letter to our election commission, and we’ve got a copy thanks to the fine folks at the Tahlequah Daily Press:

“Overall, Carter Center observation teams commended the competent administration of the election by the election commission and precinct polling staff.  The disciplined conduct of this election was notable given the shifting legal parameters and the additional administrative burden placed on the election commission in the days before the election by the federal court order.”

Trust us, if you wade through the rest of the message from the Carter Center, you’ll see that just how interesting those two sentences are.  To sum it up, the outside observers think the election commission is doing okay, saying things like “Polling was well organized in most precincts,”  “Poll workers were well informed about voting procedures,” and “the feel good hit of the summer.”  Okay, maybe not the last one.

One section of particular interest might be the part about the Freedmen voting, which says:

“Despite the controversy regarding the disenfranchisement and subsequent re-enfranchisement of the Freedmen, Carter Center observers did not report any cases of Freedmen encountering obstacles in casting their ballots on the Sept. 24 election day. No distinction was made between Freedmen and other voters on the voters roll.  In an exit meeting on Sept. 25, two Freedmen organizers told Carter Center observers that they received no complaints of discriminatory behavior or actions. The considerable efforts of the election commission to respond to the demands of the federal court order are to be recognized.”

So, hopefully that will keep the freedmen, BIA and APCSJC (the people who agreed on the order) happy because the court order says the freedmen needed to vote “without intimidation and harassment.” 

The Carter Center did make some recommendations, which you can read for yourself, but the biggie is: “The Carter Center mission would also suggest that the election commission undertake a more robust voter information and outreach program.”   

Thanks for the advice, Mr. Kott-Air! See you again in 12 days or so when the votes get counted, and who knows, maybe 12 years from now too.

 

Four Days Until the New Election: Beat to the Punch

So today was the day a federal court judge was going to tell us how or if we could run our own election, but it turns out the Freedmen and the BIA, working with APCSJC beat him to it.

According to media reports, our election is not only going to be this Saturday, but also the next few Saturdays. 

Crittenden cut a deal with the BIA and Freedmen that gave them their citizenship back, and allowed them to vote-- even extending the timeframe for voting until October 8, though the regular election is still on for Saturday.  Which Crittenden basically told us he’d do a few days ago if we were listening, when he said:  "They may have helped put me in office. I believe they're entitled to vote again.”

We’re not sure how this works, because the Cherokee Nation Supreme Court ruled that freedmen weren’t citizens, so how can APCSJC agree in federal court to grant them citizenship anyway?

We’re not sure, but he did.  His statement on the Cherokee Nation web site says “I am especially concerned about the funding that has been withheld.  I hope the action today will allow those $33 million in HUD funds to be released to us.  It’s a significant sum and the people at the Cherokee Nation who work in housing programs will not have to worry about the funding or services to our people.”  So, I guess if the Cherokee Nation does something the BIA doesn’t like, all they have to do is tell us they won’t give us any money and we’ll do whatever they say. 

So now the BIA and the freedmen get to tell us who votes in this upcoming election, not our Supreme Court and not our own Constitution.  How do the candidates feel about that?  Well, they are both pretty sure it is the other guy’s fault.

Baker blamed “Smith and his Supreme Court” for trying to steal the election and then demanding a new election, spending a fortune on lawyers and then losing the case.

All of which is a little weird,  considering that if the court was going to steal the election, they could’ve just made Smith Chief a few weeks ago and saved us a lot of trouble.  And that it was Baker who argued for a new election after the Supreme Court told him he had less votes than Smith, the court gave him what he wanted!  And that the Cherokee Nation didn’t lose the case, APCSJC just handed over the decision about who votes in our election without much of a fight.

Smith blamed Baker by saying "The agreement in the federal court is in direct violation of the decision of the highest Cherokee Nation court that Freedmen are not citizens of the Cherokee Nation.”  He said that Crittenden was doing Bakers dirty work, getting Freedmen special treatment and accusing them both of “sell(ing) out the Cherokee Nation to the BIA and non-Indian freedmen descendants for a few votes.”

To put this all in perspective, the people in Taiwan this morning are reading about us in their paper.  Here’s the message they are hearing: “Osiyo, y’all.  Cherokee Nation is a sovereign nation.  We’re just waiting for another nation to tell us how to run our elections and government.”

5 Days until the New Election: Smith's August Finances

As we discussed yesterday, this has become a $1 million Cherokee Chief campaign .  In the last few days before the election, we’ll spend some time talking about where that money is coming from and where it is being spent. We’ll start with Smith today and move to Baker later. 

Smith raised $154,108.99 in the most recent reporting period, including a $38,000 loan.  He had about 132 donors, for an average donation of $879 or so. Donors of note include Barry Derryberry, an OKC area attorney, Council member Jack Baker and former speaker of the house for Oklahoma Chris Benge.  The biggest expenses were $18,924 for telephone (which turns out not to be long distance calls to Uzbekistan, but actually phone polling), $35,106.24 for printing (mailers anyone?) and $23,131.50 for compensation to individuals.

The polling was done by Cole Hardgrave Snodgrass, who we talked about earlier.  He even spent $5,247 on office supplies, which is a lot of staplers and paper clips!

Smith’s total expenditures were $110,992.26, which leaves Smith with $42,616.73 in cash as of September 15. We’ll plan on Baker’s finance report tomorrow, but if our tribal court or the federal court come up with something soon, you’ll understand if we push it back, right?

12 Days Until the New Election: Betting the Farm

The Tulsa World did a finance story over the weekend about the campaign, and got some answers to questions we’ve been wondering about ourselves.

They noticed that Baker has lost money on his furniture business, but still managed to loan himself $155,000.  Baker told the World that he was “plowing a good portion of my lifetime profits into trying to serve the Cherokee people.”

That’s the first time we’ve heard a peep from Baker about how he’s paying for the election, so many thanks to the World for getting Baker on the record.   The World also solved the mystery of how Baker’s income is less than his actual council salary.  They say “much of his $36,000 council-member salary is withheld for tax purposes or goes directly into a retirement fund.”

Smith has loaned himself $40,000, which we’ve covered before as well.  He says that money comes from a loan.  He tells the World:  "For my adult years, I've worked hard, paid my taxes and provided for my family. I do not have the means to self-fund my campaign."

So it looks like both candidates are betting the farm on this one.  The stakes are not just high for the Nation, but for the candidates themselves, which may be a contributing factor in the high emotions surrounding this election.

13 Days Until the New Election: Best Month Ever

Best month ever!  Very Nice!

Yesterday we looked at Chad Smith’s most recent campaign finance reports, to see who is giving him money and what he is spending it on.  Today, it’s Baker’s turn, and we’ll repeat some of yesterday’s caveats:

Keep in mind, this reporting period is for the calendar month of July, which, looking back, went something like recount, court appeal, second recount, court orders new election, Deputy Chief election, then we’re pretty much in August.  The new election was ordered by the Supreme Court on July 21 (see our riveting blog here).

Baker’s report though, covers July 15-August 15, so his numbers should, and are, higher than Smith's.

In fact, the Baker campaign might call July 15-August 15 the best month ever.  The Supreme Court didn’t make Smith chief, even though they counted more votes for Smith.  Baker’s Deputy Chief fave S. Joe Crittenden won the runoff election, and then got sworn in as APCSJC on August 14.  Then on August 15, Baker turned in a report showing that he raised almost $100,000 in those 30 days, which is almost half as much as he raised from other folks this whole election cycle up until July 15.  And he didn’t have to add to the $155,000 in loans he’s made to his campaign.  So again, a pretty good month for Baker. 

His contributors include a few folks who gave to Smith before, so some people may be hedging their bets.  Contributors of note include $1000 bucks from election commissioner-to-be Susan Plumb, $500 from freedmen advocate David Cornsilk, and $2000 from former Supreme Court Justice and Chief candidate Stacy Leeds.  Also, another big donation from a Cherokee Truth reader, but we’ll let that person ID themselves if they wish.

Baker’s expenditures for the month totaled $68,438.79.  His biggest expenses were related to the recount and other miscellaneous ($28,500) and printing ($26,969).

Baker’s attorney Kalyn Free got $10k for ‘lawsuit’ and a DC firm got $20,000 for mail printing.

Baker’s cash on hand was $61,176.20 on August 15.

Baker’s total contributions from others so far now total $291,445.62.

That’s on top of the $155,000 loan, which puts the total money in his campaign so far at $446,445.62.

The September 15 reports will be out soon, and we’ll get you information on those as quick as we can.  If any of our readers have access to those reports, please email them to cherokeetruth@gmail.com.

14 Days Until the New Election: Money Money Money!

Maybe it’s a little overdue (since we’re into September), but we owe it to you, our readers, to keep up with our campaign finance watchdoggery. Mainly because no one else is really trying very hard!  We’ll look at Smith and Baker’s August 15 financial reports in the next couple of days.  Today, we’ll start with Smith and tomorrow we’ll go with Baker.

Keep in mind, this reporting period is for the calendar month of July, which, looking back, went something like recount, court appeal, second recount, court orders new election, Deputy Chief election, then we’re pretty much in August.  The new election was ordered by the Supreme Court on July 21 (see our riveting blog from that day here).

So there wasn’t much time for fundraising, or much to spend money on, for either of the candidates.

Smith started with $28,060, raised $12,890 and loaned himself $26,003.  That brings his total loans to about $40,000. Click here to reference Smith's entire report.

Interesting donors include state legislator Brian Bingman, former Cherokee Supreme Court Justice Philip Viles, and an employee Baker wrongfully accused of breaking the law. 

Smith’s expenditures for the month totaled $53,824.  The biggest expenditures were for miscellaneous/recount/election challenge, which includes paying some lawyers.  That total was $18,631.  Next was advertising, which might be bills coming in from the ads placed prior to the June election.  The total there was $16,698.

Smith’s cash on hand at the end of July was $13,129.87

Smith’s fundraising total through the whole campaign $391,565.07. On top of his $40,103.91 in loans,  Smith has had a total of $431,668.98 to spend on his campaign thus far.