In late November, 11 senior administrators at Ketchikan Indian Community sent a letter of complaint to the KIC Tribal Council, alleging violations of tribal ordinances.
The letter claims that some members of the Tribal Council have interfered with personnel matters, including demanding access to confidential information and encouraging employees to circumvent the chain of command. It also alleges that some Tribal Council members have harassed KIC employees, interfered with the operation of KIC programs and issued directives to senior management that were outside of tribal law.
The letter doesn’t provide any details or examples of those alleged violations, but it demands that Tribal Council members adhere to all of KIC’s ordinances, uphold their oaths of office, and remove two Tribal Council members: Andre Lecornu and Norman Arriola. The letter claims that those two members have continually violated tribal regulations.
When reached by phone, Arriola declined to comment for this story. Lecornu did not return a message seeking comment.
The Nov. 22 letter also states that if action was not taken by the Tribal Council, those who signed it would make public their accusations.
The letter was sent anonymously to KRBD, postmarked Dec. 30. It’s signed by Camille Booth, director of KIC’s Southern Southeast Alaska Technical Education Center; Education Director John Brown; Interim Health Administrator Steve Hudson; Housing Authority Director Bonnie Newman; Social Services Director Sue Pickrell; IT Director Rod Short; Medical Director Rachel Cuevas; Youth Coordinator Sonya Skan; and Nursing Director Joan Strutz-Ozan.
The letter also was signed by the former Human Resources Director Colleen Scanlon; and former KIC interim Tribal Administrator Arlene Dilts-Jackson. Scanlon is no longer a KIC employee, and in early December, Dilts-Jackson was replaced by Charles Edwardson.
Dilts-Jackson returned to her job as the KIC transportation director.
Scanlon declined to comment for this story. Dilts-Jackson did not return messages seeking comment. Neither did other administrators who had signed the letter nor Tribal Council President Irene Dundas.
Edwardson initially agreed to speak on the record for this story. However, he did not show up for a scheduled interview Thursday afternoon.
The KIC Tribal Council has eight members. The annual election is this month. Four seats are up for election, and are currently held by Lecornu, Delores Churchill, Donna Frank and Rob Sanderson.
KIC is a federally recognized tribe. It was incorporated in 1940, and runs numerous local programs, primarily serving Alaska Native residents. Its largest programs are the health clinic, vocational training center and housing authority.
