HEADLINES
	2003 Shareholders Meeting
	Honesty And Integrity
	A Moment In Time With Henry John Billie
	Unveiling Of Dorothy Scott Osceola Portrait
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2003 Shareholders Meeting

By Alexandra Frank
HOLLYWOOD — On Jan.18, the Board of Directors held a Shareholder's Meeting at the Tribal Headquarters auditorium. The 371-seat auditorium quickly filled to capacity with tribal citizens. Many of them stood along the auditorium walls, the rest viewed the meeting from television monitors set up in the auditorium lobby and outside of the building.
The main point of discussion in Shareholders Meeting was the Financial Report for the year ending September 30, 2002. The Financial Report covered All Fund Types, All Governmental Fund Types, Combined Enterprise Funds, and Enterprise Funds.
Enterprise and Programs included were Tribal Smoke Shops, Seminole Wholesale Distributors, Credit & Finance Department, Cattle Programs, 4-H Program, Board Citrus Groves, Seminole Sugarcane, Tucker Ridge Shell Mine, Brighton Campground & Trading Post, and the Seminole Okalee Village & Fairgrounds.
Registration of Shareholder's began at 9:00 a.m., and the meeting began at 10:20 a.m. Master of Ceremonies Moses Jumper, Jr. welcomed everyone to the meeting and introduced President of the Board of Directors, Mitchell Cypress.
Cypress bid everyone a good morning and called the meeting to order. Moses confirmed that the meeting was called to order, which signified the beginning.
After the invocation, Cypress spoke about the reason for the Shareholder's Meeting. He explained that the meeting was about the expenditures incurred by Tribe Inc. and the report given covered the money spent on those expenditures.
The meeting is also a chance for the Shareholder (tribal citizen) to ask questions regarding the report or businesses operated by Tribe Inc. After Cypress's opening statement, Moses began the Introduction of Tribal Officials and Liaisons.
Moses introduced Brighton Representative Alex Johns, Big Cypress Representative Paul Bowers, Hollywood Representative David Dehass, and Immokalee Representative Norita Yzaguirre. The Board Liaisons are O.B. Osceola Jr., Naples; Richard Henry, Tampa; William Osceola, Trail; and Sally Tommie, Ft. Pierce.
Alexandra Johns thanked the Shareholders for coming out on a cold day. He said that the auditorium was built for meetings like the Shareholders’ Meeting.
Johns assured the attendees that the Board was working hard to bring in more business, which would bring in more income to the tribe, so that one day the Board would meet its goal of issuing on a monthly corporate dividend.
Johns said the Shareholder's meeting will show that the Board is actively pursuing new business ventures and individuals will see the financial aspects of those ventures and be able to ask questions of Board officials and staff.
Paul Bowers expressed his thanks at seeing so many people from the five reservations present. Paul continued with the many events slated on this day and hoped everyone has a good time.
David Dehass was glad to see everyone in attendance and said that it had been awhile since the Board had a Shareholder's Meeting and it was good thing that everyone could get together on this day.
Dehass thanked a couple of individuals for their help, his Secretary, Leoma Poore, and Credit Committee member Steve Osceola. David also expressed appreciation for the people in his community, who keep him aware of things going on in the tribe and the reservation.
Norita Yzaguirre greeted the shareholders with a "good morning" and remarked that it was great to see so many old friends and new faces. Norita said that she has seen a lot of changes within the Board structure over the past few years.
Her hopes are that the tribal citizens will continue to work with the Board as the Board works to get back on track. She then thanked everyone for coming out to the meeting.
Richard Henry thanked everyone for attending the meeting and was glad many made the trip to attend the meeting in Hollywood.
O.B. Osceola, Jr. bid everyone a good morning and welcomed them to the annual Shareholder's Meeting, he said that this was his first such meeting.
He joked that he feels out of place at the Board Meetings because he doesn't wear a cowboy hat. His comment generated laughter as he wished all of the Shareholders good luck in winning a raffle prize.
William Osceola welcomed everyone to the Shareholders Meeting and wished them luck in the raffle drawing, with the caveat that he would win the grand prize. This sent a chuckle through the auditorium, because others felt the same way he did.
Sally Tommie thanked everyone for coming out and continued on with the fact that she is a member of the Bird Clan. Sally's family is from the Ft. Pierce Reservation and they are all proud to a participate in the Shareholder's Meeting.
She continued by thanking the elders because, “if it were not for their hard work the Seminole Tribe would exist.” According to Tommie, that is why they (Board) are here: to keep the ball rolling. Sally thanked everyone for coming to help with the meeting such as Board staff and tribal member staff.
Moses asked that a round of applause be given to the Board officials and the staff. Moses gave an introduction of Royalty, he called on Mary Huff, Junior Miss Seminole.
Mary said she is from the Brighton Reservation and the daughter of John Wayne and Vicky Huff. She is 11 years old and a member of the Panther Clan. She wished everyone good luck in the raffle of the grand prize.
Jumper then introduced Joe Frank, the Acting BIA Superintendent for the Seminole Agency.
Joe bid everyone good morning and commented that it is good that they (tribal citizens) get a chance to get together and meet. He felt that it was good of the Board to call the meeting to share information with every Shareholder.
Frank mentioned the Secretarial Elections in which the Tribal members voted on the Amendments necessary to the Corporate Charter in order for the Board to do business in the 21st Century. A lot of restrictions that had been put onto the Board were eliminated, and Frank wished them a lot of luck in pursing new business ventures.
The Financial Reports were given by Jim Edenso, Executive Administrator. Edenso thanked several people for their attendance to the Shareholder's Meeting and for the hard work put into the meeting by David Dehass, Council Representative Max Osceola, Jr., and the Board Liaisons for their hard work and input at the Board Meetings.
Edenso started with the Financial Report ending September 30, 2002. Edenso would covered the Combined Balance Sheet - All Fund Types, the Combined Statement of Revenue, Expenditures and Changes in Fund Balance - All Governmental Fund Types, the Statement of Revenue, and the Expenses and Changes in Retained Earnings - Combined Enterprise Funds.
Edenso also went over the detailed statements for the Combining Balance Sheet - Enterprise Funds, the Combining Statement of Revenue, and the Expenses and Change in Retained Earnings- Enterprise Funds.
After the reading and a few specific questions, the floor was open for general questions, with stops for raffle drawings.
Lorene Gopher of Brighton asked if the Council could have a Shareholders Meeting like the Board is having. She explained many tribal citizens would like to view where money is coming from and where it is being spent.
Cypress responded that they (Board) will take up the request and present it to the Council through Ken Fields.
There were some questions about Board business ventures, such as, “How many years will a Board program or venture have to lose money before it is eliminated?” Also asked were questions pertaining to what steps would be taken to rectify those situations.
Johns responded that, until recently, nothing had ever been done, but the Board now has a set criteria that Board programs and ventures have to meet.
The Board Members, along with the Board Staff, answered or addressed all questions, comments or complaints. This is what the Shareholders Meeting is about, the right of all tribal citizens gaining access to the reports of funds spent for new business ventures and question the funding of ventures that do not generate any income.
The Board also assured the shareholders that they are currently looking into new business ventures and rethinking business ventures that drain money and not earning a profit.
One such venture was a Nevada hotel/casino with which the Board is in contact. The Board assures that they are doing a financial analysis of what is needed to get into the business and what the return would be for Tribe, Inc. The Board does not want to rush in eagerly into a venture that could either benefit or hurt Tribe Inc.
After all of the Shareholders’ questions were answered, Jumper then conducted the raffle, for which the attendees had registered before the meeting.
Clifton Huggins of Trail won the 57" giant screen TV, while Lottie Huff of Brighton drove away with the most coveted prize, a brand new 2003 Ford Explorer. Congratulations to Lottie and Clifton and to all the other Shareholders who won a raffle prize.
Election time is right around the corner. Let’s hope that whoever is elected to the Board of Directors will hold another Shareholder's Meeting soon.