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port in the month since. “It wasn’t something I planned to do, but it’s opened the doors for a lot of people, even on the parts of behavioral health and generational trauma,” she said. “I will keep everyone in my prayers that has battled some of the same things or had those struggles.” Ultimately, five members voted to deem it read and tabled, but seven voted not to. Only two new ordinances appeared on the Aug. 5 agenda. Council voted to deem one of them read and tabled, as is typical, and again took no vote on the same-sex marriage ordinance. However, instead of interpreting this
“It will be tabled. It will come back up for consideration by this Council on the second week of September.” — Cherokee Tribal Council Chairman Adam Wachacha
to declare the ordinance dead, as occurred in previous meetings, this time Wachacha directed the clerk to read the entire ordinance into the record. “Council, item one is now placed on the 25-day reading period,” he said after the reading. “It will be tabled. It will come back up for consideration by this Council on the second week of September.” Council will have to act on the ordinance next month in order for it to become law. Because it’s an election year, any pending legislation not dealt with by the time new members are sworn in Oct. 4 will be considered dead, though similar legislation could certainly be introduced in the next term. Cherokee does not use staggered terms for its legislature, so all 12 members face re-election this September.
August 11-17, 2021
BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER fter twice refusing to grant the legislation a perfunctory first reading, during its Aug. 5 meeting the Cherokee Tribal Council allowed an ordinance seeking to legalize same-sex marriage on the Qualla Boundary to be read into the record for consideration at its Sept. 9 meeting. Currently, Cherokee law explicitly prohibits such unions from being recognized. The ordinance, submitted by tribal member Tamara Thompson, was first placed on the agenda in June. Under tribal law, proposed ordinances are entered into the record and then must sit for 25 days after introduction before Council can take action. Typically, the Tribal Council will vote to deem all new ordinances read and tabled in order to save the extensive time it would take to read each one out loud. The law does not include any provision for declining to read an ordinance into the record, or for declaring it dead on the floor prior to the first reading. However, in June the Council voted unanimously to deem all new ordinances read and tabled except for the one regarding same-sex marriage. Chairman Adam Wachacha told the body that because nobody had moved to deem the ordinance read and tabled, it would die on the floor. Thompson submitted the ordinance again in July, and the same thing happened — though this time the vote was accompanied by extensive discussion in the chambers that included strong statements from two Council members in favor of not only allowing the ordinance an up-or-down vote, but enacting it as law. One of those members was Wolfetown Representative Chelsea Saunooke, who in an emotional speech told the audience that she’d known since second grade that she was bisexual and that one of her children had recently come out to her. During the Aug. 5 meeting, Saunooke said she’d received incredible sup-
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Cherokee to consider same-sex marriage law in September
Waynesville homeless task force meeting cancelled over COVID concerns Contrary to rumors circulating on social media, the meeting wasn’t cancelled to stifle public input on the recommendations, and Murphy-Nugen said that public comment will indeed be accepted in some form yet to be determined — whether in-person, online, by phone or otherwise. The public comment portion of the process is a critical step, and must take place before any recommendations are presented for approval to Waynesville’s Board of Aldermen. To read the full 147-page draft report, including methodology, findings and recommendations, visit the Town of Waynesville’s task force page, www.waynesvillenc.gov/task-force-homelessness.
Smoky Mountain News
A meeting designed to gather public input on draft recommendations made by the Waynesville Task Force on Homelessness scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 5, has been cancelled. Amy Murphy-Nugen, chair of the group, said that several members of the task force had been exposed to COVID-19 and that the meeting, which was to be a drop-in informational session, could not take place as originally envisioned. The cancellation is yet another bump in the road for the task force, which struggled initially with defections and dissention. Over the 18-month lifespan of the group, the issue of homelessness was studied and recommendations — some controversial — were finally issued last month.
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