Current Projects News
The Spokane Tribe of Indians vision is to achieve true sovereignty by attaining self-sufficiency. We will preserve and enhance our traditional values by living and teaching the inherent principles of respect, honor and integrity as embodied in our language and life-ways. We will develop strong leadership through education, accountability, experience and positive reinforcement.
NEWS
IT Update – January 23February 1, 2023 - 10:02 pm- Finance Update – January 23February 1, 2023 - 10:00 pm
HR January 2023
/in Current Projects, UncategorizedSpokane Tribe Human Resources: January 2023
Project 2022-2023: Spokane Tribe Policy Manual, Update
The Spokane Tribal Government has been working on the development of a new employee policy manual since early Spring 2022. HR has been working with the Office of the Spokane Tribal Reservation Attorney’s Office (OSTA), Richard McGee Law Office, LLC and the Tribal Business Council (TBC). The initial meeting focus was to gain direction for policy development which will encompass the unique sovereignty of the Spokane Tribe.
The first task has been to receive guidance from the Business Council. The second task will be to establish the necessary input from the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) and finalize the new employee manual. The Executive Leadership Team consists of all Directors within the Spokane Tribe’s Government.
January 2023 Update: A draft is currently being finalized with the Legal team. Once the draft is completed, ELT will be introduced to the process of working together to provide more detail to the initial framework done by Legal and the TBC.
Project 2023: Technical Writer, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
At the direction of the Acting Executive Director, the development of (formal) Department SOPs will be underway in 2023. The Tribe has launched the project by seeking professional services to begin working with ELT staff. The project will help to establish formal departmental procedures, which will deliver quality, consistency and transparency for employees, clientele, and the community as a whole.
January 2023 Update: The bids are being scored and reviewed to determine the professional service provider for this project.
Project 2023: Compensation Policy Update
This project began in 2019, pre-Covid. The project was approved by the OED and TBC after at least two other attempts by prior administration in earlier years. The Spokane Tribe engaged the services of the Bluestone Strategy Group.
As a result of Covid-19 impacts and administrative barriers, the project did not reach full implementation as intended. The goal for 2023 is to update the compensation study with current local market comparisons.
Funding challenges are anticipated. Some programs have adequate funding resources, while others do not. The responsibility remains with leadership to ensure funding challenges can be overcome. TBC has been eager to encourage and support leadership’s ability to plan for success. The opportunity is that the Tribe has this compensation structure with guidelines to aim for. The compensation policy and guidelines establish consistent, fair, and equitable compensation for employee recruitment and retention.
January 2023 Update: The project is ready to launch once the initial agreement is signed. The target goal is to launch in February 2023 to be completed by May of 2023 in time for the FY 24 fiscal planning deadlines in July 2023.
Project 2022/2023: Indian Child Protection and Family Violence Prevention Act (PL 202-630)
Pursuant to the Federal Code of Regulations 25 Part 63, SS 63.1, “The Tribe is required to establish minimum standards of character and suitability for employment for individuals whose duties and responsibilities allow the regular contact with or control over Indian children, and to establish the method for distribution of funds to support tribally operated programs to protect Indian children and reduce the incidents of family violence in Indian country as authorized by the Indian Child Protection and Family Violence Prevention Act of 1990, Pub. L. 101-630”.
The ELT is currently in the process to formally designate the 101.630 positions within the Tribal Government. Additional policy development is also underway to begin working with the FBI to administer the backgrounding process and remain in compliance with the federal mandate.
January 2023 Update: Currently we are awaiting completion and approval of the FBI process to give the Spokane Tribe authorization to conduct FBI backgrounds.
Spqni Broadband Services Awarded Significant Grant
/in Current Projects, Rawhide Press, TelecommunicationsThe Department of Public Works and Sṕq́ńiʔ Broadband Services has some exciting news to share regarding the future buildout of internet service on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Late last year, we applied for the Washington State Broadband Office (WSBO) Infrastructure Acceleration Grant and we have just received notice that we have tentatively been awarded over 16 million dollars to fund our proposed project. As described in our application, with these funds we will build out fiber optic broadband infrastructure throughout the reservation. Specifically, we were funded to construct Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) and Middle-Mile buildout from Wellpinit thru Ford, to Deer Park, and to Chewelah. In summary, this will allow Sṕq́ńiʔ Broadband Services to expand on their current emergency wireless deployment to a more futureproofed and robust network.
You may be aware that the Tribe already had plans to construct a smaller fiber run. This smaller, but linked, project is funded by $3.4M in ARPA funding. We are very grateful that we will no longer need to piecemeal the reservation-wide fiber optic project as it is now fully funded with the addition of the WSBO award. With the additional grant funding we will be able to bring the entire project to fruition concurrently. This newly funded project is projected to be complete in 2024; however, with existing supply chain disruption, all awardees may be granted an extension. As of now, it is taking 9-12 months to obtain needed supplies and materials for broadband construction projects, so please be patient. As with all construction projects, this will not happen overnight, but we are so excited that the process has begun.
Lastly, while we wanted to notify the community members of this most excellent news the Tribe must still complete the process of officially being notified of award and officially accepting the award. While there is still much work to be done, we would like to acknowledge the team that you have working for you and whose goal is to improve the quality of life for all Spokane Tribal citizens. This grant application was submitted as a team effort by Leslie Hardwick, Lam Chan, our consultants—NoaNet and their contracted grant writing team, and Chamisa Radford. We would also like to offer a nod to our predecessors, the STYX team, as without their initial groundwork none of this would have been possible. For more information on this grant award please visit the Washington State Broadband Office webpage under Building Infrastructure at www.commerce.wa.gov
Sincerely,
Chamisa Radford, MURP
Director of Public Works
Office: 509-458-6592 Ext. 430
Cell Phone: 509-904-6291
chamisa.radford@spokanetribe.com
Online STOI Internet Sign Up Sheet
/in Current Projects, Rawhide Press, TelecommunicationsMidnite Mine clean up
/in Current ProjectsMidnite Mine Community Liaison
The Midnite Mine Community Liaison provides information to the community on the Midnite Mine Remediation project, organizes community meetings, and forward any concerns regarding the Midnite Mine to the appropriate entity. The Community Liaison works with the Spokane Tribe, the US Environmental Agency (EPA) and Newmont to gather information and to relay that information on to the Spokane Tribal Community. The Liaison also works with Newmont to manage the complaint and grievance mechanism for Spokane Tribal Community Members.
Contact Information
Ricky Sherwood
(509)458-6586
Rickys@spokanetribe.com