GRIC electing a governor

Along with selection a new president of the United States, voters on the Gila River Indian Community will be electing a governor.

On the ballot is current Gov. William Rhodes, who will face off against his Lt. Gov., Jennifer Allison-Ray, to lead the Indian community for the next three years.

Many of the issues facing the tribe are the same as those facing state and local governments, specifically a drop in revenue. Rhodes said in a Gila River Indian News article that while gaming revenues are down slightly, the real problem was to keep spending within the tribe's means.

"I must emphasize that what happened is not a financial crisis - our income sources are more or less stable - we just need to manage our money better," Rhodes wrote.

But his opponent, Allison-Ray, said that gaming brings in $4 million less each month and that "Hard decision need to be made."

She said that the community can't rely on just gaming from the two casinos, and that more industrial development should be created along the tribe's northern border, which is shared by Chandler, Ahwatukee Foothills and Laveen.

Both candidates also agree that improved housing for community members is a priority.

Rhodes has had a rocky relationship with the tribal council, partly because of his "New Directions" agenda, which includes revisions to GRIC's Constitution and By-Laws as well as new and tougher rules for how the council operates.

In June, Rhodes survived a recall election and early in his administration the council suspended him for three weeks for undisclosed reasons after receiving an internal audit of the events surrounding the firing and replacement of the department heads.

The June, recall was over allegations that Rhodes had unfairly fired tribal employees, including most of the department heads and the longtime community manager, during his first months in office and replaced them with people of his own choosing.

Early in his administration Rhodes expressed some interest in allowing a tribal-wide vote on allowing construction of the South Mountain Loop 202 on Indian land, something the tribal council has repeatedly voted against.

In her campaign materials, Allison-Ray didn't mention the freeway issue.

Rhodes, a U.S. Navy veteran of the Korean War, was the tribe's first volunteer fire chief. He also served nine years in law enforcement and was the tribal court's chief judge from 1999 until being elected governor.

Allison-Ray has a master's degree in educational administration, is a former classroom teacher and was first elected to the tribal council in 2002 before being elected lieutenant governor in 2005.