The United Auburn Indian Community voted Saturday to re-elect two tribal council members after a bitter internal feud stirred a failed recall effort and the banishment of tribal members who circulated recall petitions.
Two of the banished members of the wealthy casino tribe, former tribal Chairwoman Jessica Tavares and tribal elder Dolly Suehead, lost by 58 percent to 42 percent margins in their bids to unseat tribal council members Kim Dubach and Brenda Conway.
Tribal spokesman Doug Elmets said more than three-fourths of the United Auburn tribe, operator of the Thunder Valley Casino Resort in Lincoln, participated in the election. But the voters didn't include either Tavares or Suehead. The rival candidates were banned from showing up on tribal grounds to cast their ballots and also told that they had missed a deadline to obtain absentee ballots.
Tavares and Suehead were among six tribal members who were ordered banished from the tribe for up to 10 years and stripped of monthly casino payments of more than $30,000 after their attempt to recall all five members of the tribal council.
The two women were part of a dissident faction that assailed the tribal council over a generous contract – including a cut of the tribe's net casino profits – for the law firm of tribal attorney Howard Dickstein. They also took issue with the tribe's $1 million sponsorship pledge for the Sacramento Kings and funding for a tribal school.
The tribe's election committee rejected the recall petition as invalid and containing insufficient signatures.
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