The Chilkoot Indian Association closed its offices for two weeks starting July 26 following an unresolved council election and council divisions concerning Jim Carnahan, who has served as the tribe’s administrator since February.
Tribal president Jan Hill, who also serves as Mayor of the Haines Borough, resigned her leadership of the council in the midst of the turmoil.
The CIA is one of two federally-recognized tribal governments serving Alaska Natives in the Chilkat Valley. It has a $6 million annual budget and eight full-time employees and in recent years has sought partnerships with the Haines Borough.
Neither Hill nor acting tribal president Les Katzeek returned phone or e-mail questions about the matter this week, but tribal members and former employees say the conflict stems from a split on the board concerning Carnahan’s retention and a disagreement over rules in the council election July 15.
Della Brouillette, Dave Berry and incumbent council member Georgiana Hotch were vying for two seats on the seven-seat tribal council, including one held by Marilyn Wilson, who had not sought re-election.
Berry said this week that ballots in the annual election hadn’t yet been tallied. “It’s frustrating. Enough is enough. We need to have the votes counted.” Berry said he had no opinion on Carnahan’s tenure, as he didn’t have experience working with him.
Berry said a tribal member had protested how election absentee ballots had been sent out, but that an election challenge couldn’t occur until ballots were counted.
At a July 22 meeting, the council suspended Carnahan and put all of its office employees on paid leave for two weeks.
According to documents obtained by the Chilkat Valley News, the council on July 22 also compelled Carnahan to turn in his key, credit card and laptop computer and told him not to return. Carnahan did not return phone messages left at his home this week.
Carnahan attorney Michael Lessmeier wrote to the tribe’s attorney July 23 that his client received no explanation for his suspension, and that when he asked, the meeting was adjourned and Carnahan was escorted away.
“We believe this action, as well as prior actions and/or inactions, have breached Mr. Carnahan’s rights and caused grave damage to him,” Lessmeier wrote, seeking immediate reinstatement of Carnahan and a letter of apology.
Lessmeier wrote another letter July 26 saying Carnahan had been the subject of an “almost continual campaign of harassment” and offered a settlement for Carnahan to leave the tribal job.
Under the offer, Carnahan would receive $100,365 in severance pay, paid time off and moving expenses, plus his attorney’s fees and a letter of apology. The letter said the offer would remain open through Aug. 2 and was intended to avoid the expense of litigation.
The letter also alleges Carnahan was assaulted by a council member, and was threatened with arrest for attempting to return to work.
Tribal council member Harriet Brouillette said this week that tribal offices would reopen Monday. She said she expected the tribe would issue a press release about the recent election.
Brouillette characterized the two-week hiatus as a summer tradition for Native groups, to allow employees to partake in subsistence activities. “Most tribes do it, but not usually all (employees) at once.”
This week at Chilkoot Estates, the tribe’s planned housing development project off Major Road, tribal council member Jack Smith Sr. was working on road and utility construction.
Two four-plex apartments there are partially complete, though it didn’t appear any work was being done to them.
Other projects under way or planned when Carnahan was hired in February included environmental remediation, developing a future port facility at the former Army tank farm property on Lutak Inlet and constructing a tribal office building at Third Avenue and Mission Street.
Carnahan, formerly of Shelton, Wash., came from a business background including wholesale groceries, real estate and marketing the “world’s first personal luxury submarine.”
The tribe in recent years has reached out to the Haines Borough, citing the potential for partnerships, as the two governments are eligible for different pots of money. Earlier this year, the borough assembly approved a $1.2 million grant to the tribe for water and sewer work at Chilkoot Estates, in exchange for the same amount of road maintenance work, plus $168,000 in interest.
Former Haines Borough manager Robert Venables, who helped build ties between the two governments, said he hoped the tribe would patch up its problems.
“The tribe offers partnership opportunities with the borough that have never been fully realized. Municipalities aren’t getting the kind of support they used to from Washington, D.C. Having a tribal partner can be a real asset to the community,” Venables said.