By Mary Bernard

Vernal Express

Curtis Cesspooch, the embattled chairman of the Northern Ute Indian Tribe Business Committee, is facing the most serious challenge of his tenure.

Speaking last Wednesday at a meeting with tribal members, he sought to clarify the nature of the infighting between the Business Committee’s six members.

Over the course of his three years in office, Cesspooch has been the subject of two recalls, a lawsuit brought by those seeking his recall and, earlier this month, a 30-day suspension from the Business Committee.

He said his temporary removal has left the tribal governing body with a quorum made up of his detractors.

“After they kicked me out, the committee passed a resolution to authorize the Uintah Band (of the Northern Ute Tribe) to take a vote to decide whether to hold a recall election,” Cesspooch said.

The vote has to include more than one-third of eligible voters from the Uintah Band to be valid, said Cesspooch, who added that he doubts his political enemies on the Business Committee will adhere to the tribal ordinance involving recalls.

The two prior recall efforts against Cesspooch failed for procedural reasons.

At last week’s meeting, not everyone was clear on the reasons for seeking to recall the chairman.

“Why is there a recall? What is the cause?” one person asked Cesspooch. “To me, nothing has been defined enough to say this is why there is a recall.”

As he recounted the sequence of events leading to his temporary removal, Ceespooch showed clear signs of his own frustration with events.

“This whole recall situation has gotten out of hand,” he said. “It’s not just about me, it’s about more than me, my band or the tribe. It’s affecting everyone around us.”

Reasons for the most recent recall effort remain vague, but there has been mention of “gross misconduct” and “travel abuse.”

“Much of this is just hearsay and lies. It’s a big push to bring back John Jurrius, everyone knows that,” Cesspooch said, referring to the former financial adviser to the tribe who was removed following accusations of fiscal impropriety.

A lawsuit against the former adviser was settled out of court. Cesspooch remains resolute in his anti-Jurrius stance.

Tension was expressed openly at the evening forum called by Cesspooch, with many saying they fear reprisal by Cesspooch’s opponents on the Business Committee and their supporters.

“People are being released from their jobs, because one member on the Business Committee is going around telling tribal directors to fire certain people,” said a man who identified himself only as a tribal employee.

Cesspooch accused his opponents of using threats and intimidation to remove people from their tribal jobs, based on their alliances. Stewart Pike, one of the Business Committee members who voted to suspend Cesspooch, said he doubts any committee member has worked to ensure that others lose their jobs.

“There’s no truth to that,” Pike said. “That’s a typical response from somebody who wants to get back at the committee.”

Pike along with Irene Cuch and Richard Jenks Jr., voted for a resolution to suspend Cesspooch from the tribe’s governing body for 30 days beginning on Aug. 16, while Francis Poowegup and Philip Chimburas, voted against the resolution.

“With all this bickering going on with you (and the Business Committee), how can you help us?” asked one person in the audience. “Forget about arguing, we put you in there to take care of us tribal members.”

Cesspooch said the bickering is having negative repercussions for the tribe, possibly in the area of federal funding.

“We just met with (Assistant Interior Secretary) Larry Echo Hawk of the BIA in Washington, D.C., to discuss the Questar agreement, among other things,” he said.

The Ute Tribe is in the process of negotiating an agreement with a Questar spin-off company — QEP Field Services — for future construction right-of-ways on the reservation. Earlier this summer, QEP was barred by the tribe from working on its Stagecoach natural-gas processing plant on the reservation. The tribe alleged environmental and other types of infractions.

Cesspooch said that a follow-up meeting was scheduled with Echo Hawk, but later canceled, perhaps due to the current tribal turmoil.

“Because of the stuff going on here, it puts a big hurt on the tribe’s credibility,” said Cesspooch, appearing to justify his travel to Washington, D.C., as part of the reporting process for accepting federal money.

Pike said Cesspooch is “fighting for his life.”

“I imagine half the people at the (Wednesday) meeting were people who wanted to recall him,” Pike added.