TEB Member Resigns
In May, TEB member AT Stafnie resigned from the tribal executive board for health reasons. The Fort Peck Tribal constitution states that when a TEB seat is open, it is to be filled with the next highest vote getter, which was Rick Kirn. Morales refused to allow Kirn to fill the seat because of personal differences.
The Journal covered the story fairly, while the Wotanin treated it like it was nothing important. Coverage they did give of the issue told only the chairmans side of the story.
All of the events that followed resulted in months of coverage leading up to a general council, which acts like a supreme court on the Fort Peck Reservation.
During a general council, all enrolled tribal members gather and they will vote on issues that can't be decided by the TEB. Though the constitution says that the seat has to be filled with the next highest vote getter, Morales refused to allow Kirn to fill the seat and the TEB were afraid of him and didn't speak up to defend the constitution.
Every front page from the time Stafne retired had stories about the constitutional crisis on Fort Peck. Each issue had at least one mention of a general council that was called for by Morales and his supporters.
Read more about this topic: Fort Peck Journal
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