Valerie Welsh
Tribal Council Member

While the 2008 CRIT Tribal Council Elections resulted in one of the largest turnovers in Tribal Council history, one familiar face that will return to the Council is Valerie Welsh-Tahbo.

She was re-elected to her third term on the Tribal Council, and said this will be an interesting time in CRIT’s history.

“There’s going to be a learning curve for those who were elected along with me,” she said. “However and whenever they would like my help, I will keep the lines of communication open to them.”

Welsh-Tahbo said that it will take time for the new council members to acclimate themselves, but that she’s excited to work with them.

“This is a new experience for us,” she said. “We’ve always had some senior people retained on the council in my time, so we will have some new challenges.”

Welsh-Tahbo said she was grateful that she received so much support from Tribal members during a time of such great change on the Tribal Council.

“I was really appreciative of all the votes that came in,” she said.

“It’s not something I take for granted, especially with so many candidates. I hope those who supported me see me as someone willing to work with everybody.”

Along with working to improve Tribal communication, Welsh-Tahbo said her priorities for her next term will be to work to “clean up” Tribal codes and ordinances to make sure they are current and relevant.

She also said she wants to make sure Tribal finances are responsibly managed, and explore more diverse economic development opportunities, such as natural resources, tourism and utilities.

“The casinos are taking a back seat to other revenue sources in a lot of tribes across the country,” she said. “What’s coming to the forefront is natural resources and other enterprises.”

Welsh-Tahbo said she also wants to finish up a Tribal Resources Directory that will allow members to easily find and access Tribal services, and to have CRIT’s boards and commissions become more of a vehicle for public input.

“Changes don’t just come overnight,” she said. “We just want people to know to call in, that our lines are always open and our doors are always open.”