The Osage Minerals Council had a special meeting scheduled Aug. 8 that had the potential to remove longtime Chairman Everett Waller from the leadership seat – and to strip the chairmanship of unilateral power in two areas – but the gathering failed to come to fruition because half the council members were no-shows.
“We don’t have a quorum and if we don’t have a quorum, we can’t have a meeting,” said 2nd Chair Myron Red Eagle after roll was called.
Newly installed Minerals Councilwoman Stephanie Erwin, who was appointed in May to replace the late Melissa Currey, had called for the election of a chairman and the formation of new committees. She said that officers are required to be elected every July.
“We haven’t had an election in I don’t know how long,” Erwin told a handful of attendees at the non-meeting.
When one woman asked how those who were absent could be held accountable for inaction, Erwin responded: “They’re elected officials. They’re not really accountable to anybody.”
According to Osage News archives, the last election of a Minerals Council chairman was in March of 2021, when Waller was elected to replace Andrew Yates, who died while in office. Waller has been elected twice before, in 2014 and again in 2018.
Waller was absent from the meeting that was aborted due to lack of a quorum. Also absent were Councilmen Joseph Cheshewalla, Kenneth Bighorse and Anthony Shackelford.
Red Eagle was rumored to be the intended nominee to replace Waller, but he did not confirm that nor did other members of the council.
“I don’t care who’s chair as long as it’s not me,” Erwin said. “We just need to follow the rules.”
Red Eagle reported that Waller had said he could not attend the special meeting due to a death in the family, Shackelford said he had a work conflict due to a budget meeting he had to attend, Bighorse said he had to deal with an issue with his son regarding college, and that Cheshewalla said he just couldn’t attend but offered no reason.
The election, Red Eagle added, can be rescheduled. “This was a special meeting for other issues, for other important issues that we need to discuss,” he said. The issues centered on carbon capture, personnel and a proposal to rescind two past resolutions: One dating back to 2017 gave the chairman the power to unilaterally waive requirements for “sandy soil permits” the Bureau of Indian Affairs issues to mine rock and other minerals; and the other gave the chair authority to unilaterally decide pay increases and bonuses for Minerals Council staff.
Councilman Talee Redcorn, who did attend the failed meeting along with Red Eagle, Erwin and Paul Revard, said that the council has generally had some sort of discussion about keeping chairpersons in their posts but that the last formal vote he recalled was the one in 2021 that resulted in Waller’s election.
Waller, Redcorn added, “is willing to take the heat and he’s good at it. Everett always says he’s never lost a federal court case and he’s right. We’ve had some battles in federal court, and we’ve won them all.”
Waller could not immediately be reached on Aug. 8.
