Red Herrings-Tax & Transparency

Chief Smith's opponent finally responded and released his tax returns, but in doing so he once again tried to sidestep the big issues of the campaign like jobs and health care, where the Chief has a proven track record, and instead chase red herrings. Here is the Chief's response to his opponent's latest attempts to drag this election into side issues rather than what is truly important to the Cherokee people.

Response of Principal Chief Smith to his opponent accepting his Tax Return Disclosure Challenge

April 28, 2011

First, I am pleased my opponent decided to release his income tax returns and accept my challenge to create another avenue of transparency for this campaign. During my tenure as Principal Chief, Cherokee Nation has earned a reputation as the most open and transparent Indian tribe in the country. Additionally, I provided for the Free Press which allows our Cherokee Phoenix independent reporting, supported strengthening our Freedom of Information and Open Meetings Law, published annual reports in print and video and released a special annual report on where our business revenue goes. Further, our businesses and government have a dozen of levels of tribal and federal oversight. Our audits, which cover the entire Cherokee Nation government and its businesses, are spotless.

My opponent forgets his own term as tribal councilman between 1995-1999 when the Marshal Service had to serve a warrant on the Principal Chief to get financial records and audits were not done at all. He then tried to impeach the entire Judicial Appeals Tribunal when they ruled he was conducting illegal council meetings.

You must ask the question: “Where has my opponent been for the last eight years as a Tribal Councilman?"

He sits on the Council Advisory Board for our businesses. The Tribal Council has a full-time CPA to review the books every month and he has full access to every transaction of the Cherokee Nation. During my tenure, Cherokee Nation has won national awards for our audits nine years in a row; we have just this past month received an endorsement from a national credit ratings agency that says we have high financial standards! At a meeting last week, our businesses devoted a good portion of their agenda to discussing the business audits, which were exemplary. My opponent was there and did not say a word.

My opponent claims he is “a champion for transparency” but the reality is his call for transparency came only after he declared himself as a candidate for chief. I am proud to say that my administration has focused on transparency since the first day I took office.

Second, my opponent calls for the disclosure of my travel records. This begs the question again: “Where has my opponent been for the last eight years as a Tribal Councilman?"

He is part of the Council that passed the budget every year for my travel expenses. He has a full-time CPA who works for the Council who can and has pulled up my travel records many times. My travel is audited after every trip. I travel to Washington D.C. and other places to advocate for the Cherokee Nation and represent the Cherokee people. That is part of the job of Principal Chief and my success is clear. Since 2000, our Cherokee Nation budget for services has increased from $150 million to $600 million.

Third, my opponent asks about the Cherokee Nation plane. Again-- “Where has my opponent been for the last eight years as a Tribal Councilman?"

The Cherokee Nation has had a twin-engine plane for 38 years. Cherokee Nation Businesses (CNB) owns this plane and charges for its use just like any other business. Our employees, council members and I use it for business purposes when it saves money compared to commercial air travel. CNB then charges back the cost of the plane to our budgets. My opponent should know this and, again, he has access to all of these records.

So, “Where has my opponent been for the last eight years as a Tribal Councilman?" I'm not sure. But I know what I've been doing. My administration brought unprecedented transparency and accountability to our government and businesses. We've created 5,000+ jobs, continued to expand and improve a health care system that is considered the model across the country, and revitalized our culture and language all in an effort to make our people a happy and healthy nation. Let's continue moving in the right direction.

Chad Smith

Principal Chief