CRAMA March 2007 Update

It's been a very productive quarter for CRAMA. As we have already shared with you we had meetings with AZ DOT, Mayor of Chandler and Congressman Flake's office. The latter is willing to help our cause and we keep his office, as well as the offices of our Senators McCain and Kyl, informed on any major developments related to Memorial Airfield.

Late February two members of our Steering Committee met in Sacaton with the Superintendent of Bureau of Indian Affairs responsible for the Gila River Indian Community. It was an excellent meeting also attended by her assistant. We had an opportunity to review our concerns and impress upon her that CRAMA wishes to establish a dialog with GRIC leadership, so that we as neighbors can address issues that will have a significant impact on all residents near the Memorial Airfield. We reviewed for her our many past failed efforts to establish a meaningful contact with GRIC. We also shared with her that we do speak for over 8300 residents and that CRAMA's wish is to have a "good neighbor" relationship with the Gila River Community.

The Superintendent in turn informed us that the GRIC Governor has been re-organizing the tribal government. The former Airport Authority has been replaced with an interim Authority Board under the leadership of Council Member John Antone. She was very interested in the information we provided, made photocopies of several of our documents and assured us she would discuss the matter with Council members in an effort to bring the parties together. Later that day we received a call informing us that a meeting with the Airport Authority had been set up.

We met on March 7th. John Antone and four other members were in attendance. CRAMA was represented by Paul Rost, Co-Chair and Charlie Hunter, our State and Tribal liaison. We learned that this interim Board had been given the task to research the airport issue and to report back to the Council. In other words, at this time no decision regarding the Memorial Airfield has been made. It was also clear to us that this Board understands that airports are expensive to develop and operate. They also realize that a jet airport will have an impact and they appreciate the concerns of their neighbors. We were told that the GRIC Council's two main goals are to develop a plan that provides income from the land for the landowners and jobs for tribal members. We left with the feeling that we gave them data in a form they can use to report back to the Council and most importantly we have now established a "talking relationship" with John Antone. Never before has anyone from SL communities had a formal face-to-face discussion with the Gila River Airport Authority.

We also discussed the possibility of sponsoring a panel discussion later this year that would include GRIC, Mayor Dunn, AZDOT, BIA, FAA and our legislators. Getting such a group together could be one way of finding a solution acceptable to all.