Changes in Packrat

Governing Council surprisingly ended at a decent hour when the sun was still bright, and we got through the whole agenda plus some. Of course I kept myself occupied with my journal, but S had been asked to be there as well, and I sat by him. :)
…I was disappointed when it was over and he didn’t suggest doing anything after, since it was early, but while I was on my way out of town he called to say he would have suggested going for a bite to eat had council ended earlier. He has his late mother’s little dog who’s elderly and lately doesn’t seem to be feeling well; he didn’t want to leave her any longer than he had to because she had been alone all day. I totally understand this and am glad he thinks that way.
…He had already told me goodbye, so I didn’t hang around, but apparently he expected me to. He lingered, talking to the outgoing tribal leaders, and called when I wasn’t still there.
…He thinks the new elected officials will fire him although there is no basis for that. One of the outgoing leaders said the tribe would be insane to let him go.
Elections. The wise sage Meatloaf once said, “Two out of three ain’t bad.” It’s made me physically ill. Our newly elected second chief and committeeman are good men; I voted for them, and they won in their positions overwhelmingly. One is the Coyote’s younger brother, so he’s very close family.
…The chief lost re-election to a former chief who left with a grievance against her and others waiting to be filed. Our housing authority had to take her to court. She’s a liar, and I told her so to her face; it’s a long story, but she tried to give away the burials of our ancestors for her own gain. She disgusts me.
…She won by 22 votes, and while everyone is entitled to his own opinion, her win makes me deeply ashamed of my tribe. It’s just that I know some people voted for her not because they believe in her but because someone else with ulterior motives lied - one of my sisters is one of them. The former second chief has always wanted to be chief, told my sister how she has to come in and do the chief’s job when in fact she can’t even show up to do her own. She ran for chief - and came in dead last in the primary, behind a drunk with no car, no home, who had outstanding warrants and was arrested after council.
…The people who voted in Chief Spreadeagle (as she was called in her last term, with reason) won’t be there to clean up the mess, and there will be a mess.
…I was so angry the blood in my head boiled to a point where I felt I’d pass out or explode. True, the current chief didn’t get some things done, but there were reasons for that if anyone ever bothered to check into it (although I’ll admit that he should have been stronger at times). No one who works here is happy that Spreadeagle is returning.
…I’m trying to see the bigger picture and also remind myself that two good men are coming into office. Spreadeagle has much for which to atone, so maybe that’ll happen. Maybe greater things await the chief; I know in the past when it seems the right thing didn’t happen it’s because there was a bigger picture.
…For instance, our former newspaper reporter needed a raise because that position puts in long hours and weekends. She and the tribal administrator worked on her budget to provide it. Then the new controller froze everything without the authority from the elected leaders, but the TA didn’t write her up (and still regrets not doing so, but too late now); everyone in finance got a raise. The reporter did, too, but only the small raise we get every year. She tried to argue her point with the BC and HR (by then the TA was gone - another “bigger picture” story) but gave up and quit. She was in the right; she followed every avenue; we prayed about it. I couldn’t understand why it happened as it did.
…Right after that she found she had cancer. She caught it early enough to be an outpatient, and she’s now cancer free, but that wouldn’t have happened had she stayed. She had already put off a check up; she would have put off more. Had she found the cancer while still here, she would have been stressing about the job while in recovery. The job is stressful enough. Things didn’t work out the way we thought they should, but the bigger picture was that the way things turned out saved her life.
…Of course, my first thought after hearing the election results was that I want to quit. If the tribal members want someone who’ll give our ancestors away, then to hell with them; they don’t deserve me.
…But I calmed down. I reminded myself that not everyone voted for her; an almost equal number voted against her. She tried to interfere in my job before, but the other BC watched out for me, as will the newcomers. One “newcomer” served as our chief when we filed our first lawsuit, so he’s familiar with my work. Besides, someone has to be here to protect our ancestors.
Quitting isn’t really something I’m going to do. It just gives me comfort to think of it. I really just need a break.
New Employee. The tribal member I used to babysit has been hired here and started on Monday. Yay! I’m her supervisor now. I’m trying to wrap my mind around that - did I mention that I used to baby sit her?
Long weekend. I planned to take tomorrow off for a long weekend with Labor Day on Monday, but the chief and I have an interview about our current lawsuit and the only day he could do it was Friday. I’ll come in just for that, so I can sleep in and leave after. I’m sad that we won’t be working together anymore; he was a great support to my program. When the executive assistants all told him they’ll miss him, he joked that he’ll still be around and they can take him out to dinner. When I was in his office Tuesday he was actually jovial; a great weight lifts off those who leave office - when one of my former liaisons decided not to run for office again, he was practically skipping through the halls in the last days of his term.
…I’m going to make plans with S today for tomorrow. :)
…and tell the chief he owes me lunch for coming in on a day off.
…I told my newly elected brother there are two things he MUST do: 1) stand up to Spreadeagle, and 2) have cake when he’s sworn in. It’s not official unless there’s cake.