Colville Business Council member expelled

The Colville Business Council, meeting in special session Thursday with all tribal representatives present, expelled fellow council member Andrea George from their ranks on ethics charges, which she denied in a detailed statement.

George, elected last summer to represent the Nespelem District on the Colville Tribes’ governing body that serves as both the tribes’ legislature and head of its executive branch, is a lawyer whom her supporters insist was being expelled for calling into question procedures and actions the council takes, not for actual ethics violations.

Many of those supporters gathered outside council chambers at the 9 a.m. meeting, too many to fit inside the meeting room with the CBC. Only about 30 were allowed in, plus one reporter.

The charges were read, George was allowed to respond to them, then a vote was taken quickly, with discussion being cut off before more discussion could take place.

The Rules Committee was recommending George’s expulsion based on violation of ethical standards, including improper influence, gross misconduct and malfeasance.

Several of George’s supporters objected verbally to the fact that CBC Chair Rodney Cawston had voted on the matter. They said the tribal constitution and the very professional conduct code under which the charges had been filed allow the chairman to vote only in case of a tie. The vote was 8-6 to expel, including Cawston’s vote. That’s the minimum number necessary for the action to go through.

Cawston said he had gotten a legal opinion from the Office of the Reservation Attorney (ORA) and that his vote was legal.

During her statement, George maintained there had been several missteps by the ORA throughout the long process, which had morphed over time, having roots in disagreements as far back as September. She called the ORA’s neutrality into question, noting that an ORA worker had requested a legal opinion against her less than 24 hours after George was sworn into office in July, and that an ORA worker had accused her of yelling at her, the basis of the ethics charges.

George listed 18 departures from past practice during the process, in which an investigator had recommended charges against her be dropped and from which no sworn complaint existed. She said she was not allowed more than one witness in a Feb. 1 hearing and that she was denied the ability to subpoena or cross examine witnesses, among other complaints about the process.

“Today may be my last day as a representative of our Tribe,” she wrote in her statement. “But I would rather serve 7 months questioning, debating, reporting and serving for the greater good than to spend years at this Table just going with the flow.”

Because a CBC member had called for the “question” immediately after the motion to expel her had been seconded, no further discussion on it could be heard, a parliamentary move George said was strategically designed to keep others in the room from commenting, including elders, who, under tribal custom, should be allowed to speak first.