Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2003 | 9:30 a.m.
IOWA CITY, Iowa -- The elected council of the Meskwaki tribe, heeding the advice of federal officials, has scheduled a recall election for October, the council chairman announced Monday.
Alex Walker Jr., chairman of the Tama-based tribe, said voters will have the chance Oct. 21 to recall any or all of the six elected council members.
Oct. 21 is the date of the tribe's already scheduled general election. Walker said three council members are up for re-election and their terms expire in November. Another vote would be held within 45 days to replace the remaining three if they are recalled.
The announcement came on the last day of a deadline set by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and is an important first step toward reopening the tribe's casino, said Eric Woolson, spokesman for the elected tribal council.
Federal officials ordered the shutdown of the casino in May, weeks after the Walker council was ousted from power by a group hand-picked by the tribe's hereditary chief.
The takeover by the appointed council, led by Homer Bear Jr., was fueled in part by tribal members' frustration over the elected council's decision to reject recall petitions submitted last fall.
"We are absolutely in sync with the BIA and the federal government on the recall issue," Walker said. "Now there is simply no reason whatsoever for the dissidents led by Homer Bear Jr. to continue their occupation of" tribal and casino offices.
BIA officials, which had been involved in recent weeks in talks to settle the dispute, were waiting to review the council's election proposal before commenting.
Telephone messages left for Bear and officials from the appointed council were not immediately returned Monday.
But Walker urged the appointed council to accept the election plan and vacate government and casino offices in an attempt to reopen the casino.
"For the good of the tribe, they must leave offices immediately so we can reopen the casino, put people back to work and once again go about the business of securing the tribe's economic future," Walker said.
Economic ripples from the casino closure have been felt beyond the Meskwaki's 700-acre settlement along the Iowa River west of Tama.
The casino, which grossed about $3 million a week, employed about 1,300 workers from Tama and surrounding counties and subsidized the $2,000 monthly royalty checks paid to tribal members.
Weeks after the appointed council took control of daily tribal operations, the National Indian Gaming Commission issued a closure order. The NIGC ruled that the appointed council wasn't recognized as the tribe's authority, putting the casino in violation of federal Indian gaming laws. The leadership dispute has been played out in several court venues and a failed mediate attempt.
The most recent court battle occurred last month when attorneys for the two councils went before the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to ask that a lower court order enforcing the closure was crippling the tribe.
The appeals court has yet to issue a ruling.
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