Casino profits dispute prompts recall campaign in Michigan

Thursday, March 30, 2000 | 10:55 a.m.

Six of the council's nine members are targeted in a recall petition started by Tammy Kleeman of Manton. She and other supporters of the initiative want profits from the tribe's new casino to be distributed among the 2,676 members.

The council's majority says profit sharing among individuals has not been ruled out, but that housing, education and health programs should be higher priorities.

Kleeman, who began collecting signatures this month, said tribe members who do not live in or near Manistee don't benefit from such services.

"It shouldn't matter where you live; you're still a tribe member," she told the Traverse City Record-Eagle for a story Thursday.

The Little River Casino opened eight months ago.

Some tribes that operate casinos do make cash payments to members. But members of the Little River Band council say it's customary to use the first few years' profits for programs and services before sending checks to individuals.

Not everyone realizes that federal law requires using some of the profits for economic development and the general welfare of the tribe, said council speaker Joan Spaulding, one of those named in the recall petition.

"In the end, once (members) are informed, there won't be so many for a recall," she said.

Another targeted council member, Janine Sam-Szpliet, said that while programs and services are based in Manistee, they are offered to all tribe members regardless of where they live.

But Kleeman said she does not want to travel from her Manton home to Manistee, about 50 miles away, for health care. Nor does she want to uproot her family to move closer.

Many of the tribe's 176 members in Wisconsin have signed the recall petition, said member Jackie Redwoman Lindow.

"We're such a small tribe and scattered across the United States," she said. "The only way they can help us now is casino profits."