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Tribal board appoints Eitrem as chairman
SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. — The Sault Tribe Board of Directors on Aug. 23 appointed Tribal Board Member Joe Eitrem as the new chairman of the 39,000-member tribe. Eitrem will serve out the term of former Chairman Darwin “Joe” McCoy, who announced his resignation May 10 and whose term would have ended in June 2012. The board also declared Eitrem’s director seat in Unit 1 vacant.
“I fully support Director Eitrem in his new role,” said Vice Chairwoman Lana Causley. “Over the past three months, I took my role as a serious responsibility and worked to keep our tribe moving forward. I would have supported any of my fellow board members in this role and am glad to see a majority vote to appoint Director Eitrem. I look forward to working with him as the new chairman and will continue to move the tribe in a positive direction.”
Eitrem was first elected to the Sault Tribe Board of Directors in 2004. If he wishes to continue serving as chairman, he must win re-election in the next tribal election to be held in June of next year. Other candidates are likely to seek the seat as well.
The board will work to appoint an eligible tribal member to the seat left vacant by Eitrem. As specified in the tribe’s Constitution, the tribal board must choose a replacement to serve out the remainder of Eitrem’s four-year term, which also ends in June 2012. Under the Constitution, when a vacancy occurs, the board chooses the replacement, who must be a tribal member of voting age. The replacement will have to be a voting member of Unit 1, which was the unit Eitrem represented.
The ‘Notice of Election’ for the 2012 Tribal elections will be posted Jan. 27 pursuant to Tribal Election Code. The notice will be posted in the tribal newspaper, on the tribe’s official website and at all tribal offices.
Sault Tribe official resolutions, voting matrix, press releases, election code and constitution documents can be found at www.saulttribe.com.