PEMBROKE — The chairman of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina has decided that he will withdraw the name of his nominee for tribal administrator and not take another name to the Tribal Council.
The 21-member Lumbee Tribal Council on two occasions — the most recent being March 15 — rejected Paul Brooks’ nomination of Gervais Oxendine to fill the administrator’s post. That position has been vacant since the council last year refused to renew the contract of Rose Marie Lowry-Townsend.
Brooks has only submitted Oxendine’s name for the position; he told the council at its March 15 meeting that he had received eight applications for the job.
Although the tribal chairman has the authority to hire the administrator, tribal law requires that the council approve that individual. The next tribal administrator’s term would extend until the end of Brooks’ term in November.
In a statement to The Robesonian, Brooks said that he is withdrawing his nominee for administrator and that he does not intend to pursue the hiring of an administrator during the remaining months of his time as chairman.
“I nominated the best candidate I had based on the applications I received for the position. The people of the Lumbee Tribe spoke through their representatives,” he said.
“I intend to unify the leadership of this tribe for my people. After much consideration of the issues raised by Tribal Council members and out of respect for the positions to which they were elected, it would not be in the best interest of the tribe to pursue a contract for a tribal administrator. Due to the time required for the nomination process and the short time until the next election, our tribal government has many more important things on which we need to focus.”
Pearlean Revels, the council’s speaker, said she thinks Brooks did the best thing for the tribe by withdrawing his nomination.
“I think that will enhance the relationship between the council and the chief,” Revels said. “It was done in the best interest of the Lumbee Tribe. Now we can go on with other business. There are important issues that we need to work on for the people.”
But Revels also said that the chairman will have to bring someone to the council for consideration as an administrator or interim administrator.
“He will have to bring someone forth,” Revels said. “He is required to do that by the Constitution.”
Councilwoman Louise Mitchell, chair of council’s Constitution and Ordinance Committee, agreed with Revels.
“We have a law in place governing the hiring of an administrator,” Mitchell said. “It’s in the Constitution so it can’t be disobeyed.”
The law, according to Mitchell, requires a chairman within 45 days from taking office to submit the name of his nominee for administrator to the council for confirmation. If more time is needed for the chairman to choose an administrator, he needs to come before the council and request more time, Mitchell said.
Brooks was elected in November to fill the balance of the term of former Chairman Purnell Swett, who resigned in May 2011.
Reach staff writer Bob Shiles at 910-272-6117 or bshiles@heartlandpublications.com.
I am glad you withdrew your nominee for Tribal Administrator. However, I completely disagree with your downplay of the Tribal Administrator's importance.
What board of directors would allow any company to continue to operate without a CEO????While Ms. Tammy Maynor is a qualified individual, she is the Director of Government Affairs and only a interim Tribal Administrator.
Would you allow a interim person to make financial decisions for your company?? It is not your position to run the daily activities of the tribe. If you are, it is even more reason to hiring a qualified person....
The upcoming budget for next year is in full swing and there is no leadership in our tribe. Mr. Chairman who is going to make the tough decisions....Ms. Tammy??? You???
Mr. Chairman, you are a business owner. I find it hard to believe when you are conducting your business that you don't have a backup plan in case your first option does not work??? I am sure when you purchased your last car you did not take the first offer from the car salesman. If you did, I have some swamp land in Florida.
I am sure you would do neither of these things, so why only one nominee? It looks as if you and Mr. Oxendine have a close relationship and since you did not get the approval you would would rather have no one in the position.
Sir, it is not personal, its business. So just nominate a second person. It only has to be a long process if you make a it a long process. I believe the council is ready to approve a candidate as long as they believe the person can do the job and at the same time are qualified.
Do you think it is fair to the tribe or the administrative personnel to still have no official person in place since last year? It doesn't sound very business-like if you ask me.
Currently there are 8 applications in-house, why not allow the council to see them and approve several people who you could then interview.
This would resolve the issue and then all parties could focus on the other issues facing our tribe.
Our tribe is a living breathing entity. If the proper attention is not paid to organization, it will start to suffer. As it suffers our tribal members will suffer with poor services.
People in our tribe do not want to believe our daily actions are being watched. Whether its HUD or elected officials in Washington they are watching. If our elected leaders do not follow the Constitution, what is the need for one? If our elected leadership can not get on the same page, we are odds. All the photo ops in the world will not improve our position with Washington.
The people holding the purse at the moment are HUD. We need to show them we can have effective leadership in our tribe.
Mr. Chairman, it is time to put aside the politics and start running the tribe the proper way. Make your recommendation and step aside. Allow the process to take place.