When Donald Rodgers was elected Catawba chief in July, he admits he inherited a financial mess.
The tribe's primary moneymaker, the bingo parlor on Cherry Road, was closed and the building demolished. Plans for a high-tech bingo in Orangeburg County fell apart.
The tribe's administrative offices had been emptied and darkened for 2 1/2 years after the tribe's shoddy bookkeeping had led to the loss of an annual $1.7 million federal grant. In December 2004, 70 tribal workers were laid off.
"We weren't exactly broke, but we had no income and lots of bills," said Rodgers, who reported to work as chief of 2,600 tribal members at no pay.
To support his family, Rodgers had to keep his job as a counselor in Charlotte with Alliance Credit.
"There had not been any checks and balances in place since the settlement back in '93. And you can't run a business that way," he said. "The bottom line is, if there was ever a pot of money on the reservation, it was now long gone."
Rodgers shook his head, saying it reminded him of counseling someone who is dangerously close to bankruptcy.
"You can't spend money you don't have," he said. "It wasn't like we had a bad audit; we didn't have enough records to even have an audit."
But after nine months of new tribal leadership, things are beginning to look up on the 1,000-acre reservation east of Rock Hill.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs has conditionally reinstated the $1.7 million grant for self-governance. Rodgers is now paid a salary, and the tribe has hired 11 administrators and is gearing for a total of 15-20 workers.
Rodgers says that with the BIA's help, they've begun new hiring guidelines.
"We still have a preference for hiring Catawbas, but only if they are qualified for the jobs," said Rodgers, who in June 2004 lost his job as the tribe's cultural programs director when the position was eliminated. "The days of someone being entitled to a job just because they are a Catawba are over."
Two of the tribe's 11 new hires are non-Catawba. The tribal office is now divided into four departments: tribal government and administration; social services; economic development; and real estate and other rights protection.
Jay Bender, one of the tribe's former long-time attorneys, recently visited the reservation and met with Chief Rodgers.
"The tribe had been dead in the water for several years; but by getting the federal funding reinstated, it's helping them get back on their feet," said Bender, now on the faculty of the USC Journalism School and Law School.
Bender says that in hindsight, "certainly, financial mistakes were made, no doubt about it."
"Before the settlement, basically the tribe was a private, nonprofit with no assets, and it suddenly became a government with assets but no real infrastructure," Bender said. "And finally, I think the former administration was just completely burned out by the constant criticism from the dissidents. It was time for new leadership."
Jack Canty never considered himself a dissident but admits he was a frequent opponent of the tribe's former leadership.
He says Chief Rodgers is a good listener and quick learner who has made tribal government more open.
"We've had four tribal meetings in the past year, which is more than we'd had in the past 10 years," said Canty, who was recently hired as director of the tribe's department of "real estate and other rights protection."
Another criticism of the former administration was that, in the 14 years since the 1993 land claim settlement, the leaders could never come up with a new constitution, which was required by the settlement. The tribe's newly formed constitution committee says it will have a draft by the next tribal meeting in July.
"I think the biggest thing that Donald has done for the tribe is giving us a sense of hope," tribal member Ronnie Beck said. "For the first time in a long time, we're not all pulling in different directions. We have a sense of unity."
