June - July Cokv Tvlvme

Ribbon Cutting Held for New Tribal Court Clerk Building

By Jennifer Johnson

On June 28th, a ribbon cutting ceremony was held in honor of the new Tribal Court Clerk building. The building is located next door the BCR at the Mekusukey Mission. During the event, Rev. Jesse Wind of High Spring Church, Okemah led Mvskoke hymns and gave a short presentation. Chief Leonard Harjo then spoke briefly about the history of the development of the Tribal Court System. The Tribal Court Assistance Program (TCAP) is a grant funded by the Department of Justice to provide court-related support to tribal justices system. The grant program provides assistance to federally recognized Indian Tribes to plan, implement, and/or enhance tribal courts. The objective of the Tribal Courts Program is to provide a tribal court system for the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma. In September of 2008, a referendum vote took place where the citizens of the Seminole Nation voted to establish a tribal court system. The Judicial Committee meets on a monthly basis along with the Tribal Court Administrator and the Tribal Attorney General's office and is in the process of developing judicial codes for the Seminole Nation. Many community members have been involved in the development of the judicial codes and public input is frequently sought during informational meetings.

Members of the Judicial Committee were also on hand to lend support to the event. These members include Jane Northcott, Michele Owings-Warrior, Jerry Haney, and Judge William Wantland. The presentation ended with a Mvskoke hymn and a dismissal by Rev. Wind. Light refreshments were served inside of the Court Clerk Building. For more information about the Tribal Court System, please contact Tresa Gouge at 405-303-2251.

Seminole Nation Public Transit releases data from Passenger Survey

By Stephaney Lambert

The Seminole Nation Public Transit recently preformed a Passenger Survey to see what our passengers thought about our services and to see how we rank with other transit agencies across the nation. Program Director Stephaney Lambert stated, “Our main goal was to see what the passengers thought about our services and to see if we are measuring up to our mission and aiming for our vision or if we need to step back and rethink how we operate.”

The Mission of the Transit Department is to provide safe, reliable transportation to all citizens of Seminole County. We dedicate ourselves to serve with pleasant attitudes in a manner consistent with our stewardship of the communities and tribe’s trust and resources. The vision of the Transit Department is to continue to help the citizens of Seminole County access employment, health care, nutrition, education, recreation and social and human service. We strive to be recognized as a primary contributor to the happiness and quality of life of our customers and our employees.

The results were compared to other tribal transit agencies nationwide at the upcoming Community Transportation Association meeting and with Oklahoma tribal transit agencies in July. ”Overall I was pleased with the survey results. I was very pleased that my drivers are courteous. I thought it was funny that some people didn’t know what our fare structure was since it is free. However, there were a few comments about the condition of the bus being poor and that causes me to raise my eyebrow to that vehicle. In that particular case we spoke with the driver on how appearance is important to service and gave that driver tips on how to improve the vehicle condition,” stated Lambert.

For more information about the Seminole Nation Public Transit please call 405-257-7215.