The Passamaquoddy tribal government at Pleasant Point has been placed under sanction by the U.S. Department of Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) for being delinquent on its audit reports. In an October 1 letter to the tribal chief, the department states that it will make payments of contract funds only with monthly advance installments until the delinquent 2013 audit has been submitted. The letter states that BIA may impose additional sanctions, including withholding federal awards or terminating them, if the audits are not submitted in a timely manner.
     Passamaquoddy Chief Fred Moore also says the tribal government has been "blacklisted" by federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture, because of inconsistencies found in the audit reports. Moore, who was sworn into office on October 1, comments, "My assumption of office was akin to stepping onto a vessel in distress in the dark of night."
     The tribal government depends on Department of Interior monies for most of the funding for its approximately $11 million budget.
     Along with potential funding problems caused by the delinquency on the audits, the tribal government is facing funding shortfalls now. Moore notes that programs that are designed to assist the needy, including emergency assistance, had all of their funds expended by the end of the third quarter with no money for the rest of the year. "We're just down to essential services," he says.
     "The needs of the tribe are growing faster than funding can cover, and there's not been adequate planning to meet those needs," says Moore, who says he is not suggesting that there has been any mismanagement of money. But he notes that the budget for 2014 has not yet been finalized and work has not even begun on the 2015 budget. "The status quo is not acceptable."

Three employees dismissed
     The newly elected tribal officials have initiated an assessment of all of the tribal government's programs "to find out what went wrong," says Moore. "We are taking steps to ensure that tribal members' interests are protected."
     Pamela Francis, the former executive director of the housing authority, was named by Moore and Vice Chief Vera Francis as the acting tribal manager to assist with the administration of the assessment of every department. The tribal government has advertised for a permanent manager.
     With that assessment, three tribal government employees have been dismissed, although Moore notes that all have filed grievances that are pending. Moore says all were let go for noncompliance with tribal law, personnel policies or operating procedures. Two of the employees were dismissed by Pamela Francis. Moore says he dismissed Marla Dana, who has been the assistant director of the census department and is also a tribal councillor, since he says tribal law prohibits holding both positions. In 2003 tribal members at Pleasant Point approved a referendum to not allow tribal councillors to hold key positions within tribal government, including director, coordinator or department head. The census department has not had a director for a number of years, and the tribal government's website has listed Dana as the acting director. When the same issue arose back in 2012, Dana said that her personnel file shows that she is not the director of the department and is not being paid as a director.
     "I have a responsibility to uphold tribal law," the chief says. "I have to provide them with notification to comply, and if they don't then I'm forced to take action."
     "Our problems stem from selective enforcement of tribal laws or conveniently ignoring them," Moore says. He notes that previously two tribal councillors, Darren Paul and Alberta Downing, had their seats declared vacant by the chief and council because they also held other managerial positions, although not in the tribal office. However, under the Sipayik Constitution, vacancies on the council can only be declared if a councillor resigns, dies or is recalled from office. Moore believes the action was not authorized, since the chief and council do not have the authority to declare vacancies for any other circumstances.
     Moore says the reworking of the constitution is a priority for him. A revised draft is currently being worked on, and he expects it to be ready to be voted on within a year. He says it will need to apply to both reservations, since each reservation is a political subdivision of the one tribe.
     Tribal administration needs to establish "a consistent approach to the application of law," Moore says. He believes that the lack of consistency in the past "resulted from a lack of understanding and not a deliberate attempt to undermine the process."
     While some have criticized that a tribal council meeting has not been held since the newly elected tribal officials took office on October 1, Moore says, "We couldn't schedule a council meeting with members who have contributed to this problem." A council meeting is now scheduled for Tuesday, November 18.
     The chief says the tribal government has taken steps to ensure that tribal members are aware of the issues, including posting the most recent audits on the tribe's website.
Audit points to deficiencies
     The audit for 2012 points to some control deficiencies and material weaknesses in the tribal government's financial procedures. The audit states that, in reviewing the Environmental Protection Agency's Performance Partnership Grant, it appears that a tribal government employee "double dipped" on travel expenses for as much as $10,000, using federal funds. Also, under the same federal grant program, a tribal government employee appeared to have been paid direct compensation twice for a seminar, which skewed the amount of earned benefit time accrued by the employee and charged to the grant. It appeared that the employee at year-end had approximately $8,000 of earned but unpaid benefit time. According to Moore, the employee, Steve Crawford, who directed the tribal government's environmental department, was let go by then-Chief Clayton Cleaves in 2012.
     In addition, the audit notes that the tribe maintains a separate set of accounting records for census activity independent from the tribal fiscal records. The census accounts are not tracked by the tribal fiscal department, and the audit states that errors within the census department may occur and may not be detected in a reasonable period of time. The audit recommends that the tribe should consider placing the census activity on its financial software system. The response to that recommendation from the tribal management was that "management does not want to include the census department" in the tribal government's accounting system.