Greetings Dear Birdtown Registered Voter,
My name is Boyd Owle and I am running for 2017 Birdtown Tribal Council. Running for Tribal Council has always been an aspiration of mine and I feel now is a great time after seeing all the idleness, unproductivity, chaos and mere separation of the Legislative Branch and Executive Branch over the last few months. A new Chief has been seated and a Vice Chief will be seated in the near future and the next step is for all concerned citizens of each community to cast their vote wisely and elect members of Council they feel will bring back unity and trust to begin the healing process of the Tribe.
I am one of seven children to Robert (Bob) Owle and the late Helen Enloe Owle. I am a lifelong resident of the Birdtown Community where I reside with my wife of 28 years, Cathie, and four children, Amanda, Neil, Christian and Brett. I attended the Cherokee School System and graduated from Cherokee High School in 1974 before entering the work force full-time immediately thereafter. I’ve worked for the Tribe for approximately 43 consecutive years and plan to retire from the Tribe in September of this year. My career with the Tribe started at the age of 16 working for various Tribal Summer Programs and then for the Cherokee Boy’s Club for over twenty years before going to work for Harrah’s Cherokee Casino. I worked at the casino for almost 12 years before I became the Tribal Sanitation Manager for nearly eight years now.
At the age of 47, I enrolled in The Adult Studies Accelerated Program at Montreat College and received my Associates of Science Degree in 2004. Having the urge to pursue further into the program I received a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree in 2006 and received a Master of Science in Management and Leadership Degree in 2009. I am a very dependable, honest, hardworking, fair, and open minded individual and it would be honor to represent Birdtown Community and be a voice for all its people.
My top six platforms are as follows:
Unity-Finding and bringing unity, trust and partnership back into the Executive and Legislative Branches of Tribal Government. I promise to work closely with the Chief, the Vice Chief and Council Members alike in a concerted effort to get business, productivity, teamwork and strong work ethics back on track.
Employee Rights and Security– Adhering strictly to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Personnel Policies and Procedures Handbook per all hiring and firing processes. The employees are the backbone of the EBCI work force and all its departments and the many people they serve on a daily basis. Employees should be treated fairly, honorably and respectively during their tenure as Tribal Employees.
Prioritize Spending– All spending should have rank from high importance to low importance and over-all accountability of spending. Cut wasteful spending all the while investing and/ or saving for the future.
Diversification- The need for more businesses on the Qualla Boundary such as prominent restaurants, clothing and shoe outlets, family friendly ventures that will not only attract visitors but will also be of great benefit to our own people.
Drug and Addiction Problem- The Cherokee Indian Police Department and Cherokee Judicial System must work closely together to combat and stifle out the current drug problem on the Qualla Boundary. Assistance, fostering, mentoring and follow-up for the addiction problem is second to none on the Qualla Boundary but we must get the Judicial System to initiate court ordered sentences at Recovery Centers for repeat offenders in an attempt to change addiction habits of individuals for the betterment of themselves, the communities and the Tribe. Myself, like many other families throughout our communities have lost loved ones due to drugs problems and/or addiction and we must try and save others from these horrible times of loss and sorrow.
Housing- Identify problems and then find solutions that have been plaguing housing opportunities on the Qualla Boundary for many years. Allocate and budget for more tribal funding all the while exploring for grants and other funding sources to help build houses, apartment complexes and also renovate existing houses for better living conditions for elders, medically disabled and handicapped individuals. The purchasing of buildable land is very important as it lessens the monies needed for infrastructure as that of purchasing steep mountain land. Land up for purchase needs to be first looked at, appraised and then negotiated upon due to buildability instead of paying asking price.
Remember, vote wisely.
Sincerely,
Boyd Owle
Candidate for Birdtown Council Representative
