Oops! Someone Moved the Ends

“Just when I thought I could make ends meet, someone went and moved the ends.”

Unknown

Yep, it was me.  I decided to freshen things up a bit and kind of moved the ends in the process.

So, about where those ends were moved …

• Information relevant to the commission (teleconference access info, relevant laws, AG opinions, etc.) can be reached by clicking the “TCIA” button at the top of each page.
• The “TCIA Calendar” button (new feature) at the top of each page will get you to a calendar of upcoming commission meetings, teleconferences, deadlines and related events. You can also keep up with the next 10 or so events listed in the calendar through the “Events List” (5th box down to your right on any page)
• The “Projects & Proposals” button has a list of links to approved, pending, “in planning/progress” or even shelved projects, proposals, resolutions and related materials I drafted, co-drafted or sponsored.
• The “Resources” button is just that - a list of resource page links that I feel constituents may find useful. The list will increase as the commission gets further into its work on its strategic plans, so don’t forget to check it from time to time.
• “In the News” will house a list of links to press coverage relevant to the TCIA, Indian issues in TN, or Indian events in TN. 
• “Contact” has my contact information, links to online forms for asking questions, submitting comments, etc., and an “About this Site” section with a list of site and image credits.

Other changes …

• The ability to look back month by month has been replaced by a “category cloud.” Each word or phrase in the “Article Categories” box (3rd box down to your right on any page) is linked to a list of posts filed under that category heading. The bigger the size of the word or phrase, the more posts under that category. Most posts are filed under two to three categories.
• The old “schedule” is gone and has been replaced by an event list linked to the new calendar (4th box down to your right on any page).
• The link boxes (6th thru 9th boxes down to your right on any page) have been updated. All links will take you to sites outside “Mending the Hoop.”
• Commenting has been completely disabled in part to prevent spamming and also because it was not being used. Maybe if this site gets enough registered users (2nd box down on your right on any page), it will justify turning it back on.
• Added a “Newsflash” to the top of the post section on the homepage.

That’s pretty much it. 

TCIA’s official website is maintained by TDEC and governed by the State’s rules for what can and cannot be included (linked, etc.). It makes for a nice non-partisan presentation that (almost always) has accurate info, but it doesn’t provide the ability for us (the commissioners) to present pre-meeting information or get post-meeting info out as quickly as some folks expect. 

Three of the seven current commissioners blog - tom kunesh (Secretary/Treasure, Chattanooga), James Meeks (Middle TN Grand), and I (you are …. here X) - in an effort to keep our constituents informed about what we’re each thinking or doing.

Taking Stock

We need to be preparing ourselves for the future regardless of the outcome of the upcoming public hearing and joint committee decisions. We know we face at least some opposition in bringing enhancement programs to Tennessee (Sen. Bunch’s erroneous comment at the July 31 meeting that “enhancement programs would probably be unconstitutional”).

We know the lack of support for our side of arguments was due largely to lack of understanding and education about Indians on the part of the majority of those who voted against us. (They don’t really oppose us, they just lack enough knowledge about us to make a decision in our favor.) We’re going to have learn to take care of ourselves and educate outsiders.

We’ve already begun the process of determining where we stand on key indicators (TN American Indian Research Initiative’s quantitative study and its planned qualitative study). Those studies will show us where our community is hurting the most and the least.

We need to go beyond what we lack, though.  I have argued more than once that we need to become self-reliant, i.e., not wait for the things that recognition brings but learn to stand on our own feet as an empowered community regardless of government labels. In order to do that, we need to find out what assets we have in our own larger community. The majority of those assets are human resources.

I’ve created two surveys that will help us begin to count our stock of human assets.  The surveys measure community development resources and cultural resources respectively, and offer an opportunity to volunteer time to others. The community development survey also offers an opportunity to show areas where people would like to improve certain skills.

Where are the surveys?

The surveys are available in two forms: online or pdf formatted files that can be printed out and completed offline. 

Online forms are available at tnaim.org under “Hosted Surveys.” You do not need to be a registered site member to access active surveys.

Printable versions are available here on my blog: 

• community-development-volunteer-form.pdf
• cultural-resource-form.pdf

Who should use them and how?

• Individuals who care about the community, what happens within it, and how it’s represented to the mainstream society (use online or download-able forms; download-able forms must be mailed in)
• Leaders and members of Tennessee-based American Indian-related organizations (use download-able forms, print out and distribute at your meetings, collect, and mail in together or distribute and ask your members to complete and mail in individually)
• Event planners/organizers (use download-able forms, print out and make available at your event along with a container where people can deposit their completed forms, mail in together)

Coffin Nails & Laundry Lists

I sit mind-boggled, watching the antics of the self-righteous, self-declared “victims” within the Tennessee Indian community as they swiftly, efficiently, and with nary a backward glance drive nails into the commission’s coffin, their fans and advisors alike gleefully digging its grave, and I remind myself of their most recent lessons …

1. Thou shalt not do as I do, only as I say
2. Thou shalt serve no Indians before I am an Indian
3. Thou shalt not question my perspective of Tennessee Indian History

Some things just need to be said because they are flat out the truth. Some times the strongest medicine tastes the  most bitter. Some times you have to cut away the infected limbs to save the body. Some times the largest boil is caused by the tiniest splinter.

Coffin Nails:

• Individuals who put their personal egos above the good of the community
• Individuals who put their personal hatred of others above the good of the community
• Individuals who put their self-perceived rights above the proven rights of others

Laundry List:

• End personal politicizing and self-agrandizement via the official minutes
• End privately-owned records being referenced in the public documents of the commission
• End undocumented accusations or allegations against other commissioners

I’m sure this list will continue to grow over time.

Looking back to move forward (TCIA Agendas & Minutes)

Whoooowee, talk about a hot topic! These days it seems to be a toss up as to which is the most controversial - the agenda or the minutes. One mutual problem with both is that there is no protocol for either. It would seem a change is in order.

Agenda

An agenda is basically the to do list of a group. It sets up the order in which things are done and is the list that must be accomplished during the meeting. Under limited or autonomous control, it can become a tool for eliminating, avoiding or progressing action on issues from a narrow or personal perspective. With no control, it can become inundated with more business than the group can feasibly handle or hear, causing critical or time-sensitive issues to take a back seat.

While state open/public meeting law does not require an agenda at all, the already engaged portion of the Indian community feels strongly that the opposite is true. So strongly, they built a requirement right into the bill that created the commission that commission agendas be published not less than one week prior to commission meetings.

Solution: develop a protocol that ensures nothing gets overlooked (unintentionally or otherwise) by

1. requiring that “old business” items for the next meeting be established and voted on before the end of the current meeting (minimizes the opportunity for conflict over what should or should not be addressed as the only decisions left to make will be “new business”)
2. requiring members of the public wishing to put non-emergent items before the commission either seek a commissioner to sponsor their item, or
3. requiring members of the public to submit the non-emergent item to the Chair not less than 30 days prior to the next meeting (complies with March 2005 motion)
4. requiring members of the public with emergent issues arising after the 30 days prior deadline to seek and secure a sponsoring commissioner
5. requiring commissioners to submit their non-emergent items not less than 15 days prior to a meeting
6. requiring all submitters including commissioners to provide full documentation relevant to their submission (i.e., copies of any proposals including documented justifications, copies of proposed resolutions, etc.)
7. require all submitters to make all documentation submitted to the commission for its consideration publicly available within 24 hours of submission

My suggested agenda protocol is located here. Other comments on the agenda are here.

Minutes

The minutes are the official record of organizational meetings. In the TCIA’s case, however, they are also documenting the contemporary history of Indian people in Tennessee. Further, and while the TCIA is not now nor was it intended to be the “government” of the Tennessee Indian community, it is an extension of the the state government, therefore could be used to attempt to establish and document government to government relations. That, alone, is cause for a long hard look at how minutes are to be written.

Some will argue that this is the biggest reason for not changing how the minutes are currently presented. I disagree. Strongly.

Example:

Minute taker’s perspective: Person A called to attention the fact that the something published by Person Z contained mis-statements … Person A commented that Person Z might have changed the published copy.

My perspective (as an eye witness): Person A argued loudly about and with Person Z …. Person A accused Person Z of changing the posted copy … Person Z alleged the document was actually changed by the Minute Taker between its original release and the meeting (a statement that doesn’t appear at all in the official version)…

In this example, the minute taker paints a picture of calmness, grace, and political correctness on the part of Person A, and writes in a way that reflects only the allegations against Person Z. The minute taker has just documented into the history of the organization that Person Z is a bad guy because Person A said so and no one is recorded as having rebutted the argument made by Person A against Person Z.

Now … both the minute taker and I are eye witnesses as are Person’s A and Z.

You may be an eye witness, but if you’re not related in any way to the incident … you are only getting part of a story. You wouldn’t know that Person A is also a buddy of the minute taker, and that both the minute taker and Person A share a common loathing about Person Z, or that the minute taker neatly avoided mentioning at all that Person Z alleged it was actually the minute taker that doctored the the document.

What should have been written for the sake of documenting history was not the personal perspective of the minute taker or anyone else. It should simply have said …

Discrepencies between a document published by Person Z and the copy of the document presented at the meeting for approval by the Minute Taker were pointed out. Open debate of how the document became significantly different followed.  The document was approved as submitted, however it was also decided to investigate the matter before the June 9 meeting. (followed by the official motions)

In the original document used to illustrate this article, there are other examples like instances where the minute taker, Person A and Person B are quoted nearly verbatim but Person C, D, E, and F’s comments are listed as “inaudible on the tape” or are not even mentioned. Recounting the meeting, Person C, D, E,  and F spoke in opposition to Person A, Person B and/or the Minute Taker.

While it’s acknowledge the minute taker is human and not a machine, in the case of the Commission it is the minute taker’s responsibility to write the minutes completely and accurately.  That’s the law. Further and even more importantly, the Minute Taker is creating that contemporary history of the Indian people of Tennessee - not the Minute Taker’s history - the PEOPLE’S history. The minute taker owes it to the People to do it right and to do it equitably.

Solutions: No, it’s not removing the minute taker from office. That would only be an immediate fix, not a cure and not a prevention for the future.

Design a protocol that prevents a minute taker (present or future) from biasing the minutes. I’ve started that design here, although it still needs to be refined.

Lining things out (we need a plan, Stan)

I was visiting with a friend who used to totally support the commission and is now supporting its sunset. Why? Because my friend sees what was supposed to be an Indian commission as nothing more than a “recognition commission” and opposes four or more people sitting on it as unaware of Indian people and/or Indian issues. We talked about all the pros and cons if it survived, then if it didn’t survive. We talked about what went wrong in the first place, and my friend had a valid point.

Before any other issue was addressed, the commissioners should have done one very critical thing. They should have come up with at least an outline of what goals they hoped to accomplish over a period of five years. My great-uncle called it “lining things out.”

In all fairness, they didn’t have much of a choice. Demands from and expectations of the Public combined with with the personal aspirations of four individuals and created a quagmire.

To quote Tammy Wynette, “Hindsight’s a fool’s point of view.” You can’t change the past. The best hope is to be honest about any failings, plan corrective actions for those, and try to forecast any future obstacles

The opportunity to do that is now. The commission is at a turning point. There is one meeting left before the Sunset Review. The commission needs an action plan to use as a building block for the next 5 years.

There are

• 10 “duties” of the commission.
• 4 meetings regular per year.
• 7 commission seats currently
• Some commissioners’ interests don’t match their skill or expertise.
• Some commissioners’ interests may be personal more than serving the larger community.
• A committee that never meets is not valid. It’s useless.

1. View the commission as a business.
2. View and categorize the duties as if they were departments in the business (i.e. human resources, research & development, supply & distribution, marketing & sales, finance & accounting, etc.).
3. Assign accordingly.
4. Charge the commissioners to keep up with, assist, advise, and sponsor the work of any individuals or groups relevant to their assignments.

This is not reinventing the wheel. Some of these things are already in play through formation or grassroots creation of single purpose entities like the legislative review committee (a commission committee devoid of commissioners) and the Alliance (grassroots), multi-purpose entities like ACTIA (grassroots), and entities like Tennessee American Indian Research Initiative (grassroots) that can be re-purposed after completing a task as long as the repurposing involves research.

Other ideas have been presented (most were voted down) that could be reconsidered and brought into play as well. Still others are waiting to be heard (possibly intimidated by past performances or personalities) or discovered (reading is fundamental! What are they doing elsewhere and is it possible to do it here? Does it inspire a different idea altogether?). Some might seem like baby steps or inconsequential, but baby steps lead to bigger steps and a block of inconsequentials adds up to compromise a larger sum.

The thing is, what the commission has been doing has worked, but not as well as it should. It’s time to pause a moment, take a deep breath, say “oooohhhm” or whatever brings you back to the center, and regroup. My suggestion for a formal strategic plan is located here.