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JOHN SOWELL, jsowell@newsreview.info - August 25, 2005
A top official with the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians on Wednesday forcefully accused Douglas County Commissioners Dan Van Slyke and Marilyn Kittelman of trying to inflame public sentiment against the tribe.
Tribe attorney: Wayne Shammel, attorney for the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians, addresses the county commissioners and around 100 people attending their Wednesday meeting.
MICHELLE ALAIMO / N-R staff photo
Before a standing-room audience that packed the weekly Board of Commissioners meeting, Wayne Shammel, the tribes attorney, denounced the two commissioners for tribe bashing. He said Van Slyke and Kittelman had unfairly criticized the tribe for seeking tax-exempt status for its parcels of land bought for a planned convention center in downtown Roseburg.
About 100 people, a large number of them tribal supporters, crowded into the boards meeting room to hear the heated exchange, which lasted about an hour. One man stormed out of the room after shouting at Van Slyke and accusing him of making comments about Nazi Germany that were offensive to his Jewish heritage. Van Slyke was explaining remarks he had made on a radio show concerning the tribe.
Shammel told the commissioners that tribal development of the former Douglas County Farmers Co-Op and the Surplus Center would bring in additional business and revitalize the downtown area in an amount that would far exceed the $16,000 lost annually in property tax receipts.
Our expressed intent in this project has been to spend millions of dollars to entice further development and redevelop downtown Roseburg, Shammel said. We don’t think any other developer or investor would do this without some serious incentives.
Last week, Van Slyke and Kittelman voted to send a letter to the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs expressing concern over the tribes request to take 1.5 acres of land occupied by the Surplus Center and the Holiday Motel off the tax rolls and into tribal trust. Commissioner Doug Robertson voted against sending the letter and refused to sign it.
Last year, Robertson, Van Slyke and former Commissioner Joyce Morgan sent a similar letter to the BIA expressing concerns about another portion of the convention center property being added to tribal trust. Robertson said the letter approved last week went too far in criticizing the tribes plans for the property and unfairly made it appear other taxing districts opposed the plan, which they dont, he said.
Van Slyke and Kittelman said last week they didnt think it was fair that other taxing districts should lose money from the move. Although the county only receives about $900 a year from the parcels, the city of Roseburg would lose $7,514 annually and the Roseburg School District $3,646.
However, neither of those entities oppose the project, nor do any of several other smaller districts that also currently receive property tax revenue from the properties.
Van Slyke and Kittelman said they resented Shammels contention that they were waging some kind of a publicity campaign against the tribe. They said they have legitimate concerns about the loss of the property tax revenue and how the city and county could be affected by the convention center project.
Kittelman said the tribe enjoys an advantage over private businesses because of its tax status. She noted that the tribe has bought up a number of struggling businesses and made them successful. Part of her objection to the tribe placing the properties into trust, she said, was over a sense of fairness and objections from business owners she has talked with.
Audience reaction:Sara Byers of Roseburg puts her face in her hand as she reacts to a comment by Wayne Shammel, attorney for the Cow Creeks, accusing Commissioner Dan Van Slyke of comparing the tribe to Nazi Germany on a past radio show, as he addressed the county commissioners
