By BROOKLYN BROWN
One Feather Reporter
CHEROKEE, N.C. – On the morning of Thursday, June 4, Dinilawigi (Tribal Council) tabled Res. No. 221 (2026) that would authorize a referendum election to answer the following question: Should Section 17 of the Charter and Governing Document be amended to clarify that a person who has been impeached and removed from office is ineligible for office in the future?
Aniwodihi (Painttown) Rep. Michael Stamper, Elawodi (Yellowhill) and Taline Gahvsgi (Vice Chairman) David Wolfe, Wayohi nole Widagalinidisgv (Wolftown/Big Y) Rep. Mike Parker, and Tsisqwohi (Birdtown) Rep. Boyd Owle voted to oppose the move to table.
The resolution was submitted by Rep. Stamper, Wayohi nole Widagalinidisgv (Wolftown/Big Y) Bo Crowe, and Rep. Parker.
Rep. Stamper said, “This resolution was brought to me to champion, and anytime I have the opportunity to give a vote out to the people I’m going to do just that. This is language that has been submitted before I believe by a couple of community members, but because they do not hold the position of Tribal Council, they were not able to submit it in good faith.”
Stamper requested an amendment to change line 24 on page 2 of the resolution to read, “…shall be held in accordance with the general election on Sept. 2, 2027.”
Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) Attorney General Michael McConnell requested an amendment to change the last sentence of the resolution to include, “…when ratified by the Principal Chief.”
Rep. Stamper moved to pass as amended. Rep. Parker seconded the motion.
Kolanvyi (Big Cove) Rep. Lavita Hill stated, “For me personally, voting is 100 percent our people’s right. They can vote for whomever they choose to vote for, and I trust that our 16,000 members will go and vote for whom they should vote for, and I vote to kill this.”
Rep. Crowe made a move to table. Aniwodihi (Painttown) Rep. Shannon Swimmer seconded the motion.
Rep. Crowe said, “After the community club meeting the other night that we had in Wolftown, people agreed with this going to the floor, but they were just wanting a move to table for the time being.”
Rep. Swimmer added, “The comments that I’ve received from community members has to do with applying this same restriction if someone is removed from office to apply also if they’ve been removed from a board. The suggestion was to change the language on line 16 on page 1 to say ‘impeached and/or removed,’ but the issue with that would be then someone who was impeached and then cleared of any of the allegations would also be disqualified from running, so I don’t think that’s an easy enough fix. I agree with Bo that we need to table it and work through some of these concerns that are coming from the community about whether or not this would also apply to people who have been removed for cause from boards…”
Rep. Stamper responded, “…The fact that trumps everything here is that this is an elected official that everybody has the opportunity to vote for, and while we appoint people to hold these board positions, that’s more of a nomination that we vet through this body, so it doesn’t hold the same weight from what I’ve been expressed to give my opinion on. I don’t think that language needs to be in with this. I believe an election where the people get to vote on the individuals that represent them holds a higher weight here and that needs to be amended in the charter because of that.”
Tutiyi nole Tsalagi Gadugi (Snowbird/Cherokee Co.) Rep. Adam Wachacha said, “In reading this, I think I agree with the approach that because its changing the charter and its referencing elected officials, an ordinance would need to be brought for what Shannon is referencing about boards, because this is referencing elected officials and the charter, and that would be about boards and committees, so I don’t think that needs to be tied in with this. I think a change through the code would probably be a more appropriate place for that.”
Rep. Swimmer responded, “I thought through that as well, but what I came back to is that the reason that we’re bringing this forward is because it’s affecting whose eligible to run for office, and that’s something that the [Cherokee] Supreme Court said the Election Board can’t determine on their own. They can’t set those requirements; those changes have to be made in the charter. So, if someone whose been removed from a board also is ineligible to run for elected office that would affect the charter because it’s dealing with who’s eligible to run for elected office…”
The results of a referendum vote could bar former Ugvwiyuhi (Principal Chief) Patrick Lambert, who was impeached and removed from office in 2017, from running for an elected EBCI office. Lambert ran for the Tsisqwohi council seat in 2025 after the Cherokee Supreme Court reversed the decision of the Cherokee Board of Elections to disqualify Lambert from candidacy due to his previous impeachment and removal from office. Rep. Owle and Tsisqwohi (Birdtown) Rep. and Gahvsgi (Chairman) Jim Owle ultimately won the election.
