QUAPAW, Okla. —
Members of the Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma have by a wide margin re-elected John Berrey as the tribe’s chairman, even after a bitter campaign season.
According to final but unofficial results from Saturday’s tribal election, Berrey received 210 votes for chairman, with the next highest vote-getter, Carrie Vee Wilson, receiving 120 votes. Berrey’s five opponents combined received 262 votes.
The chairman of the business committee is the tribe’s leader. The term is for two years. It is Berrey’s fifth term as chairman. He said he sees the election as a vote of confidence from the tribe’s members. He said all incumbents up for the election were re-elected.
Click here to learn more about the Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma.
“I feel really good about it,” Berrey said of the election result. “I’m just really excited. We feel like it was a mandate to try to keep moving forward.”
Tamara Smiley, the tribe’s secretary-treasurer, said the results will be official after they are certified this week by the tribe’s election committee. Smiley was re-elected to her position with 242 votes, the most votes received by any candidate in the election.
Incumbent business committee member Ranny McWatters also was re-elected, with 183 votes. The next highest vote-getter in the seven-candidate field was Geoff Buffalo, with 104 votes
Allegations made
Members of the tribe’s grievance committee released a report in March accusing Berrey and members of the business committee, which at the time included Willis “J.R.” Matthews Jr., of personally profiting from their positions with the Downstream Development Authority, which manages Downstream Casino Resort for the tribe.
The grievance committee resolution listed Berrey’s salary and bonuses from the Downstream Development Authority at more than $344,000. The resolution contained allegations of inappropriate spending on: fishing trips to Montana; a $250,000 donation by the authority to the Razorback Foundation at the University of Arkansas; and season tickets to Kansas City Chiefs games at a cost of $50,432, plus $9,000 for food and drinks.
One grievance committee member, John Rader, later sought to distance himself from the report.
‘Political stunt’
Without addressing specific allegations, Berrey at the time attributed the release of the information to the approaching tribal election.
“This is a political stunt and this absurd notion that we would be involved in activity that would be damaging to the Quapaw Tribe and Downstream Casino reflects an attempt at destroying our reputation without any basis in fact,” Berrey said then in an e-mail statement. He wrote that any personal purchases by Downstream Development Authority members were promptly reimbursed.
Smiley at the time said she thought many things listed in the report were in line with casino industry standards and were items commonly offered to so-called “high rollers,” or big spenders, as rewards.
Apparently, nothing ever became of the resolution, and there was no further action.
Matthews, who was vice chairman of the business committee, resigned in April without explanation. A special election will be held Aug. 18 to fill the vacancy.
Berrey on Tuesday said every tribal election can get nasty, but it becomes tiresome and hurtful to hear untruths repeated as they were during the campaign.
“I have a lot of people who support me,” Berrey said. He said that was what reassured him during the campaign.
Smiley on Tuesday said that though there was controversy during the campaign, it was no more heated than past election seasons.
“Politics are all the same” whether tribal or otherwise, she said.
Smiley said this election was different in one regard. “I think this is the largest turnout of voters I’ve ever seen,” she said.
Berrey said he also was happy about the turnout.
“One of the great things about the election is more and more people want to get involved, and they’re proud of being Quapaws,” he said.
By the numbers
There are 928 registered voters in the Quapaw Tribe. There were 237 walk-in voters on Saturday, and 234 others cast absentee ballots, according to information on the tribe’s website.
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