Southern Ute Indian Tribe Council recalls, Colorado (2016)
| Southern Ute Indian Tribe Council recall |
|---|
 |
| Officeholders |
Alex Cloud Amy Barry James M. Olguin Mel Baker Tyson Thompson |
| Recall status |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2016 Recalls in Colorado Colorado recall laws Special district recalls Recall reports |
Efforts to recall Chairman Clement Frost, Alex Cloud, Amy Barry, James M. Olguin, Mel Baker and Tyson Thompson from their positions on the tribal council of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe in Southwest Colorado were launched in August 2015.[1] The recalls did not go to a vote.
These recall attempts were organized by the Southern Ute tribal elders, who cited underemployment of tribal members, bad communication on the part of the council and poor investments as the reasons behind the recall petitions. Ramona Eagle, who temporarily replaced Howard D. Richards on the council in February 2015, was the only tribal council member not targeted by a recall effort.[1]
Alex Cloud was up for re-election on November 3, 2015. If a recall had been successful, Cloud would not have been eligible to run in the election and would not have received six months worth of severance pay. Tribal council members serve three-year terms.[2]
Recall supporters
The recall efforts were organized and launched by Southern Ute tribal elders.[1]
Recall supporter arguments
Recall supporters said that the council often gave tribal jobs to applicants from outside of the tribe, instead of giving preference to tribal members. Tribal Elder Yvonne Tree, one of the critics of the council, said, “We hired individuals who are racist and who want to keep us in submission. Until we get rid of those people and start standing up and uniting and organizing and getting together to try to take over our tribal government, we’re going to continue to get stepped on.”[1]
Some critics of the council members also expressed concerns that the council was not remaining true to the tribe's history, tradition and values.[1]
Tribal Elder Renee Cloud said, “You can’t have people in there for years who do nothing. They do a sloppy job. They’re careless in what they’re doing. There are some people who are there just to be there, and they do nothing for us.”[2]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in Colorado
To trigger recall elections, petitioners would have needed to collect 275 valid signatures from registered voters among the tribe members for each of the six targeted council members.[1][3]
Recent news
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See also
- Recall campaigns in Colorado
- Political recall efforts, 2015
- Political recall efforts, 2016
- Special district recalls
External links
Footnotes
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