I recently received a letter from Sally Fineday written on behalf of the Beltrami County Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party attacking my position in defense of sovereignty and worker’s rights and the right ofNative American Indians to hold statewide public office while failing to join me in my quest for affirmative action hiring policies for the Bemidji Regional Event Center.
Brad Swenson of the Bemidji Pioneer Press made this observation in his blog:
http://www.areavoices.com/swedog/
“In 2008, the Leech Lake Tribal Council’s political action committee, gave $500 to Tom Bakk’s 2010 gubernatorial campaign. Bakk is the Cook DFL senator who chairs the Senate Taxes Committee. The Tribal Council also paid $20,000 for lobbyist services at the Minnesota Legislature.
MIGA spent $300,000 in 2008, $340,000 in 2007 and $350,000 in 2006 on lobbyist services, according the state Cam-paign Finance and Public Disclosure Board.”
Question: What do Native American Indians have to show for all of this money being spent on politics by the Minnesota Indian Gaming Association besides living in poverty?
Note: Rita Albrecht’s daughter is employed by Tom Bakk. Rita Albrecht acting in her capacity of Bemidji City Planner refused to consider affirmative action hiring for Native American Indians during the construction of the Bemidji Regional Event Center; and, she refused to consider affirmative action hiring policies for those who will be hired to staff and maintain the BREC.
Question: What do Native American Indians have to show for all of this casino money being spent in campaign contributions and lobbyist fees?
Answer: Not one single Native American Indian sits in the Minnesota State Legislature in spite of all this money from Indian Gaming being spent.
Comment: Native American Indians are financially supporting candidates in the Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party who ignore our problems.
Comment: Sovereignty and Indian Laws are not licenses to deprive Native American Indian and other casino workers of their rights.
Comment: All other workers in Minnesota work in smoke-free work environments. Smoke-filled casinos are killing casino workers and John McCarthy and Stanley Crooks and the Minnesota Indian Gaming Association paid off Democrats to maintain life-threatening and health devastating work environments in these smoke-filled casinos.
Comment: Sovereignty is no excuse to force casino workers to sign statements declaring they know they will be fired for participating in union organizing as all five-thousand plus employees of the Mystic Casino workers have had to do.
Comment: The Beltrami County DFL has remained silent as affirmative action policies have gone unenforced at the Bemidji Regional Event Center.
Comment: The Beltrami County DFL has supported a perverted form of sovereignty subverting the rights of casino workers while accepting bribes and payoffs from the Minnesota Indian Gaming Association.
Comment: Instead of supporting Native American Indians for public office who are working to eradicate poverty through real living wages and adequate universal social programs; the Beltrami County DFL and Cass County DFL have been supporting white candidates whose campaigns are built on funds derived from Indian Gaming while intentionally evading the issue of poverty and the only way out of poverty for most Native American Indians: good paying jobs which are only going to be achieved through the strict and aggressive enforcement of affirmative action guidelines, policies and programs.
I call upon the Cass County and Beltrami County DFL organizations and all Democrats to explain why they have towed the line of the Minnesota Indian Gaming Association which threatens our sovereignty by using and abusing sovereignty to carry out injustices against our people.
The disgraceful letter recently sent to me by Sally Fineday acting on behalf of the Beltrami County DFL in which she declares support for this perverted concept of sovereignty is evidence that the Minnesota DFL cares more about the profits of the casino industry than eradicating poverty by providing Native Americanswith real living wage jobs which can only be had through the strict enforcement of affirmative action.
A question for Sally Fineday, Co-chair of the Beltrami County DFL: Why haven’t you raised your voice as vigorously on behalf of enforcement of affirmative action as you do in defending the Indian Gaming Industry which reaps billions of dollars in profits yet leaves our people in disgraceful poverty?
I am asking people to join with me in demanding full implementation of affirmative action in hiring people to staff and maintain the Bemidji Regional Event Center which should employ 60% Native American Indians---
A. 25% as affirmative action hiring.
B. 25% for failing to enforce the City of Bemidji’s affirmative action policies in constructing the BREC.
C. 10% as a penalty for intentionally failing to enforce affirmative action.
The courts never wave penalties for Native Americans who fill the jails; why should the City of Bemidji not be penalized for failing to enforce their own affirmative action hiring policies?
Elected and appointed public officials failing to enforce affirmative action policies has been far more injurious to the lives of Native American Indians than what has been done by 95% percent of Native American Indians now incarcerated in the Beltrami County Jail.
I ask you to join with me in demanding these jobs at the BREC be real living wage jobs and not the poverty wage jobs Native American Indians receive from casino managements.
Any school child understands that poverty will never be eliminated as long as employers are allowed to pay workers poverty wages.
Public tax-dollars should not be subsidizing poverty.
