Michael A. Langley

Three years ago, I was campaigning during my second attempt at Tribal Council. Listening to members and discussing ideas is what this job is all about. That kind of work during the campaign never really stopped once voted onto a seat at the table of Tribal Council. The number and diversity of people, including the public, to be listened to increased dramatically. I do a lot of listening and reading before I ever get to the talking part.

If you drive by our place, you will see evidence of what grounds me. Since my younger years with my parents, with only a small gap of time when I was living on campus at Portland State University, a flower garden has coexisted with me. It is in the garden that more worldly concerns drift away, replaced by the attention to the plants under my care. They appreciate me if I place them and cultivate them where they can flourish.

That is key for people as well, especially for the Tribal Members of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. We were scattered to the winds and sometimes those winds deposited us in the wrong place, or at the wrong time, or with the wrong kind of attention. Sometimes both or all three wrongs exist. We have done so much since being restored and yet there is more that can still be done. Our people still need tending to. Perhaps they need to be transplanted to a better environment, or maybe they only need a little growth boost where they live now, but through listening, advisory votes and community meetings, we gain an understanding of what that boost would look like.

Coming from the casino internal audit function, I make no apologies for my appreciation of accounting and numbers. It is much more than bean counting. I am pleased that Tribal Council has taken steps to end the practice of putting off maintenance as a means of maximizing dividend. We have also made the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) a part of all our business entities. This was a first for the casino employees.

Attention to numbers is also what got my ears perked up while attending the Native American Finance Officers Association (NAFOA) conference. The topic was the General Welfare Act (GWA) and I liked what I was hearing. I immediately began reading up on it and was able to discuss with the presenters. That NAFOA conference, and the resulting re-analysis of the GWA, has led to Elder’s Pension becoming non-taxable as well as the non-taxable COVID-19 payments more recently. These are examples of how there is more than one way to make money. Sometimes it is by applying accounting and tax theory.

For me, the entire purpose of the attention to numbers is to provide more to the members I am serving. More tribal housing, more help for childcare, help for private education and tutoring – and making the argument that the CARES Act funding limitations fits these handily. Mental and physical health of our children is going to be tested if schools do not open. We will have to be more creative to reach every one of our youth no matter where they live. We must cultivate them and tend to their roots to ensure the proper growth environment exists.

I humbly ask for your permission to sit another three years at the Tribal Council table. There is much more work to do and some exciting things in progress. It would be an honor to serve another term.