One Nation United gave a presentation to the Douglas County Commissioners Wednesday morning at the behest of Commissioner Marilyn Kittelman, despite previous assertions Kittelman has made that she has no affiliation with the group.

The Washington state group deals in property rights disputes with Indian tribes. They were put on the agenda only shortly before the 10 a.m. meeting.

"We have concerns over the growing problem of buying land off-reservation and bringing it into the federal trust," said One Nation United director Barb Lindsay of Redmond, Wash.

Lindsay spoke for about 20 minutes and made little direct comment about the local Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians, instead extrapolating on broader concerns.

Her appearance follows the move last week by Commissioners Doug Robertson and Dan Van Slyke to call off a planned tribal land trust advisory vote. The Tribe has agreed to negotiate with affected taxing districts before they take land off the tax rolls.

Kittelman accompanied Lindsay this spring on a trip to Washington, D.C., with Douglas County Planning Commission Chairman David Jaques, who is national president of One Nation United.

"There needs to be more mitigation by tribes for Indian casino impacts on a community," Lindsay said.

She gave examples of Indian tribes in Washington state and New York that she said hurt taxpayers by buying up land that is taken off the property tax rolls and then starting convenience stores and gas stations that don't pay sales taxes. She claimed only one gas station in upstate New York is owned by non-Indians.

Commissioner Doug Robertson said that much of what Lindsay had to say did not apply locally.

"Oregon, as you know, of course, doesn't have a sales tax," Robertson said. "So that issue is a little different here, as a matter of fact, it's not an issue because we don't have a sales tax."

He added property taxes can only go up with increased property values, not because the Tribe takes land off the tax rolls.

Public comment continued for about an hour, with Kittelman supporters alternating with detractors.

"You're making my job very easy by bringing these people to Douglas County," said Donald Keogh, who is leading a drive to recall Kittelman.

Wayne Shammel, attorney for the Cow Creeks, said 90 percent of what Lindsay said doesn't apply here and the Tribe has cooperated or will cooperate to resolve any other issues.

"It is One Nation United, Mr. Jaques, who are trying to change the law," Shammel said. "Any suggestion that the Cow Creeks are trying to skirt the law is false."

Jaques spoke toward the end of the meeting, apologizing to Lindsay for the disrespectful rhetoric of the meeting, saying, "that's not the Douglas County I know."

"The hateful speech is predominately coming from the tribe and tribal supporters," he said.



* You can reach reporter Chris Gray at 957-4218 or by e-mail at cgray@newsreview.info.