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A Taylor-Made Council

wallsscowl04

Updated: Oct 11, 2024

Alex Taylor is running in District 4 again. He is the father of Chairwoman Candace Schmidt and Treasurer Kyle Taylor. The last two years of the Tribal Council have had three of the nine members from the same immediate family. That is a lot of power for one family to hold. Their power hold goes beyond the Tribal Council to include the head of housing (Joey Nathan- Alex Taylor's sister) and a deputy director of tribal affairs (Alexcia Boggs-Alex Taylor's other daughter). Many Taylor family members can be found working for the tribe. This in itself is not a crime. A last name does not qualify a member to work for the tribe in the same way that it does not disqualify a member to work for this tribe. It is a conflict of interest.


Alex Taylor, Kyle Taylor, and Candace Schmidt have taken part in some unethical behavior. They helped to pressure the OSNI LLC BODs to rescind a job offer to another qualified Ponca member. The job was offered and accepted by a qualified Ponca member. The Tribal Council stepped outside their authority and robbed this member of her opportunity. Only two of the nine council members showed up to the interviews. None of them requested a second interview if they had questions. They hid behind their political closed doors (executive session) and threatened the OSNI LLC Board of Directors of "consequences" if they did not rescind the job offer. Then a signature stamp was used to forge a signature to rescind the job offer to that Ponca member. Furthermore, the BODs who stood by their choice and that member were all removed from their board of directors role with the tribe. The employee who forged the signature is nonnative, still works for OSNI LLC, and they paid her lawyer fees to go against the member who filed in tribal court. Not many members realize that the tribal council passed laws to make employees of the tribe sovereign, even over the members of the tribe! That should not be allowed. Harm should never come to a tribal member, and that tribal member has no remedy against a corrupt tribal council or a corrupt employee. Does this sound like "honesty-- integrity, and pungent moral principals," as Alex Taylor states in his campaign letter?


Approximately a year later, Alex Taylor's other daughter applied for this CEO position, and another Tribal Council representative applied as well. It is interesting to see how this Tribal Council, 1/3 of which is comprised of Alex Taylor and his children, came after the other Ponca member, and then it was conveniently left open for a while. OSNI sat stagnant under very poor leadership for well over a year. This was likely intentional to let the dust settle before whoever wanted the job scooped it up. This Ponca member, who was harmed, ran against Candace Schmidt for chair. The Taylors could not have this person outshining Candace Schmidt. If only Alex Taylor actually believed we were all family, other Ponca members would be given opportunities and not have them taken away! This is only one example. Ask yourself how Alex and his children all got such nice Ponca houses. There are rumors of more skeletons in this closet.


As a lifetime politician, Alex Taylor's voting record can be researched. He voted for the Tribal Council representatives to get health benefits. The PRC and health clinic are fine for everyone else, but the Tribal Council representatives deserve more? Their wages start at $54K and go up to almost twice that. and they meet once a week for a limited time. This overpaid bunch had to use our tribe's money to learn strategic management as they did not know! After being trained they wanted to pay consultants to handle it for our tribe after they spent the money for the training, hotel, travel, and per diem. This is not a good steward of the tribe's resources.


Health sponsorship is also not a good steward of our resources. When Alex Taylor says he wants "healthcare sponsorship," he is telling you how to spend your per capita payments. Health insurance does not cost the same for everybody. Most of us have it through our employers. This will not be a fair distribution of Casino profits, and it benefits the Tribal Council the most. They should cut the members a check and let the members purchase health insurance if they choose to do so. We do not need another government dictating the actions of individuals in this tribe.


Alex Taylor's campaign letter also leaves out some important information about the Casino profits. There are five approved ways it can be spent:

  1. Per Capita payments for individual members.

  2. Charity

  3. To support social programs to benefit the tribe and its members.

  4. To pay state, county, or municipalities.

  5. Business development.


To say that we have to be careful how we plan to spend the Casino profits to be approved is a stretch. These categories are already approved in federal Indian gaming for all tribes. We just have to outline how we plan to proceed within these categories. Business development is good, but in our tribe, it is highly unchecked. The grocery store and other entities lose money in this tribe. The Tribal Council is all over the business development entity, OSNI LLC. They don't release the financials, and recently the meeting minutes, agenda, and other action items are nowhere to be found. Until this is secure and the governing body separted from OSNI as it should be, this is a dangerous area for them to funnel funds to.


Alex Taylor wants to do more for housing. This is the same housing department run by his sister that he and his family have benefited from greatly. How does this sound? So many people cannot get help with housing in this tribe, but we are going to funnel money there to make sure someone else gets quartz countertops, a new roof, and work done around their house? If names were released for those who receive help with housing all the time, what do you think we might find? The lack of transparency throughout the tribe makes it easy for people to get away with a monopoly on its resources.


Often silent and camera-shy, this candidate has been part of the Tribal Council and did nothing to increase transparency for the members regarding financials. As a member, very little information is shared with you on the financials. It is not even consistently shared with members. They say the records are open to all members if appointments are made to view them in person. How do outside service area members view them when they don't live close to the offices? Alex Taylor says he is also for the outside members but has barely taken strides to do more than gift cards. Election laws are passed, creating undue hardships for outside members who wish to run for a seat on the council. Way more is done for in-service members in all districts than for out-of-service area members. They say it is the grant money that limits the service abilities and the stipulations of those grants that tie their hands. Our general fund can be used to tip the scales in balance, but Alex Taylor has not pushed for that.


In all their meetings with lobbyists or politicians outside of the tribe, the Tribal Council has yet to champion or fight for the Ponca members. Why does no one push back at the government? Notify the government that we will not stand for being told which members we can and cannot help, and we will not tell our members where to live in this country. This modern-day trail of tears that wants to force us to relocate yet again should not be tolerated. This government divided us, and then they can continue to cause division as some do without while others get so much help. Alex does not challenge the status quo. He is silent. He is not a fighter. He is complacent. He only fights for his family. Alex Taylor is more of the same, but worse, as he and his children will continue to make up 1/3 of the Tribal Council if he is re-elected. Please do your research.






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