Many Osages have stated, and I think correctly that, Indian politics is a contact sport. By default, I am left to assume where the rubber meets the pavement is in the trenches of our legislative body and the halls of our executive branch. Truth be told we have all seen it get a little ugly from time to time, yet one thing crucial to these conflicts even given the opportunity to occur is that our elected officials show up for work. That being said I am attaching attendance documents released by the legislative branch from the start of this new government up to the 19th Special Session. I realize, these records are not completely current, because I think we are past the 26th Session (the best I can gather from the Osage Nations website) and our legislators are now in the final Hunkah session of this, the first Osage Nation Congress. But it should give you a good indication of who is earning their paychecks, regardless of whether you agree with their respective political opinions or not. I leave it to the community to derive their own conclusions from these numbers. (Tip: the short report is easier to read, especially for those of you, like myself are not exactly mathematically inclined)
Click Here for Osage Nation Congress Attendance Short Report
Click Here for Osage Nation Congress Attendance Long Report
When/if more current attendance records become available I will post those. Currently I could not find attendance records for the executive branch on the Osage website, but then again I’m not exactly sure how one would gauge that.
My question to the community is… Is it important that our elected leaders show up for work, or is it more important how they vote…or a third option are they of equal importance?
(EDIT March 29, 2010: It has been brought to my attention, by Congresswoman Edwards, that Raymond Red Corn requested these attendance documents be compiled by the congressional staff)
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I wanted to thank you for this excellent read!! I definitely enjoyed every little bit of it. I have you bookmarked your site to check out the new stuff you post.
Ryan- WIth respect to your “Showing Up for Work” article, I have some comments. In fairness, you should have disclosed the attendance tally was compiled and posted by Osage Congressional Staff at the request of your father- a candidate for Congress. According to the chart, all Congressional candiates have good attendance records- based only on the chart, it seems all “earned his paycheck” in your opinion.
Session attendance alone is misleading because it does not reflect WORK-which in my experience is how a paycheck is earned. Many Special Sessions were called on short notice, and many session days last only minutes with no business undertaken. Attendance does not equate with work when a Congress member drove to the session, answered roll call, listened to announcements and drove home.
With respect to Congressional incumbents, the number and nature of bills introduced by each member and his/her leadership roles is a more accurate measure of suitability for the position. This information is available on the Osage Nation website.
Anyone can show up and accomplish nothing- the important challenge is to elect officials with leadership quailities who are willing to work hard and together for the good of the Nation.
Interesting info, I could kick em for where they weren’t, I could even kick em for what they did, But, today I more interested in what they say they’ll do and what they are doing today.
Yes, they could have done things differently, But, this election should be about today and tomorrow. Yesterday is gone. Leave it there.
“Yesterday is gone. Leave it there.” Is this your family motto? Without negative consequences for negative behavior as a deterrent, there is no incentive for change in a positive direction and all the more reason for that behavior to be repeated over and over again. Many of us are sick of elected Osage government officials getting off the hook time and time again and never having to be held accountable for what they do. From your comment, as a future elected official, we can see that you have no intention of taking positive steps to rectify and put in place negative consequences for such behavior as a member of the Congress
Not forgiving anyone. But, the current problems demand me pay attention to the current problems. On the grand scale attendance records of congressman while interesting are not at the top of my list. I don’t want anyone to vote for me just because I’m not them.
I will run on my own ideas and record. I promised not to berate or point fingers at the current office holders.
Most of the Osages I talk to want the petty infighting to end and they want us to work together. For me it starts with me.
Shannon, in fairness, if I would have known that my father requested these documents, I would have stated it. (After I post this I will edit the original article to reflect that, along with a date) In truth, I know about as much about my father’s work as he does mine. And as stated I pulled these files directly from the tribe’s website which makes no mention of who requested them. Regardless of its origins, it’s still a fact sheet with numbers and that’s why its up to the community to derive what they wish from that document, The questions at the end of the post were meant to leave the issue open ended, because as you correctly stated several variables are at play. It is just one of many documents from the tribe’s website I plan on reposting. However, currently (from the best I can gather) it’s the only document where the data has been compiled and mined. If you are aware of a document that exists that compiles all written & sponsored legislation according to congressperson I would happily post that document as well. If such a document does not exist perhaps a congressperson would be kind enough to request it from the congressional staff and have it made public. (the information is online but it is uncompiled)
On a side note, unless I am wrong, this document does not reflect attendance in committees either (which would further change these numbers)
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I think Cathy is correct requiring accountability of our leaders. However that can mean accountability of those leaders breaking the law & violating the constitution, and it can also mean accountability of on the job decision making. I absolutely believe elected leaders are not above the law. Many of which they have created themselves. And for violations of those laws they should be prosecuted. The judgement of which should be left to the judicial branch and not witch hunters from anyone’s camp.
As for accountability of decisions those individuals make within the confines of their job and law… THAT type of accountability is reserved for voters on election day.
Our electorate is just as much at fault though, if we do not inform ourselves or our elected officials of our wishes and desires. As in- I prefer candidates that show up to work, are productive while they are there, and vote in concert with my own personal beliefs.
I think the electorate is just as frustrated with the knee-jerk session calling and bill dropping that occurs on the hill. Much of the legislation that seems to come down the pipe, seems to come out of nowhere from the publics eye. My suggestion would be to activate the newsletter function in the website that each department is given. This way a subscriber to the Congress’s email newsletter can be notified of meetings and agendas on a regular basis instead of having to check to see if a piece of paper is taped to the glass outside congressional chambers. Which as I am sure you are aware, makes community input nearly impossible for or against a particular piece of legislation.
I liked your comment of judgment left to the judicial branch. As we all know, this government and constitution is very new, and anyone should be very hesitant to claim that exactly what is Constitutional and what is not.
As the current healthcare bill shows, even in the United States many different people have different ideas on what is Constitutional and what is not. The only way we will truly know what the law is regarding the Constituionality of anything in this government is for cases to make their way to the Supreme Court and let them start to lay down some precedents and a roadmap we can work with.
Every person, from the Chief to the congressperson pledges to uphold the Constitution, which means they promise to uphold their view of the Constitution as they see fit, when the wording is vague, as the debacle between the Chief and the Assistant Chief regarding when the Chief was in France, the Courts need to say what exactly the Constitution says about the matter. Unless the people start adding amendments to the Constitution and start using very precise language, we will have to rely on judicial review to settle many of the arguments the Osage citizens have regarding the Constituion.
The comment by Ms. Edwards is incorrect. The requirement to publish absences are found in the rules of the Congress. See below:
4.3 Overall Duties and Responsibilities
1. Every member shall diligently attend each session day of the
Congress and committee to which they are assigned. A
Member must submit a reason for being absent, in writing, to
the Clerk of the Congress to be filed. A list of absences shall
be published on the Congressional website.
I’m with you all the way on this one, Raymond. The way I calculate it, since the 19th Special Session, the Congress has had a total of 115 more Session days to add to the 215 listed on the report; a grand total of 330 days in the last 3 years and 9 months that the Congress has had to report to work on the floor of the Osage Nation Legislature. The members of the Congress are paid $58,000 a year plus $7,000 in benefits; a total of $65,000. Dividing 330 days by 45 months, that’s an average of 7.3 days a month that the Congress is expected to show up for Legislative Session work. If half of $742 a day is payment for Congressional Committee work, that leaves a total daily Congressional salary + benefits compensation for Session days of $371 a day. If a member of Congress is absent 30% of the time or 99 days, they’ve been paid $36,700 in the last 45 months without showing up for work whether it’s for 15 minutes or 8 full hours. I’d say that any elected representative of the people that has that kind of attendance record has gotten away with cheating their constituents out of every penny of it. Unless you’re seriously ill, dying, attending to death of a close family member or dead there is no excuse for not reporting for work on the floor of the Congress when in either Regular or Special Session and that’s that.
A slip of the foot you may soon recover, but a slip of the tongue you may never get over.
-Ben Franklin
I forgot to say that I echo the aforementioned sentiments.
Go Cathy Lynn,
any where in the real world you would be fired!! this is nothing but stealing from the nation. And charges should be placed!!