YUMA ACTIVIST LOSES JOB OVER STANCE

2005-09-28T11:50:00.000-07:00

September 27, 2005

I have lost my job because I am an active member of the Yuma Patriots. John Minore, Attorney and Yuma Patriot, and I did an interview on 09/22/05 with Channel 13, KSWT, with Lorraine Rivera, @ (928) 783-1300, Cell Ph: (928) 257-8538, News Anchor / Reporter yesterday. Of course, the Phoenix Area Indian Health Services (PAIHS) office had a different story. This story aired last night. http://www.kswt.com/home/1742721.html

I am hoping you can help me get this story out to the American people. I have tried to get help from the EEOC in the state of California, only to be put off for the last couple of months. So my only option is to go public and to the media.
I became a Yuma Patriot at the very beginning stages in April 2005. My last day of work at Ft.Yuma PHS Indian Hospital was on June 2, 2005, due to funds depleted. A Requisition for my continued grant/job at Ft. Yuma Indian Hospital was signed as approved by all of the Approving Officials on May 22, 2005, for my last year on this grant to the Phoenix Indian Health Services (PAIHS) Acquisition office to receive a new purchase order number for the new FY 2005/06.

On June 21, 2005, a Ft. Yuma, Federal co-worker, Cocopah Tribal member, at the facility, told my husband, who is a also a Ft. Yuma, Federal employee (23 years of service with IHS), Winnebago Tribal member, told my husband, a petition was being circulated during working hours at the facility by a Ft. Yuma, Federal employee, Cocopah Tribal member asking all Cocopah Tribal members to sign the petition. The petition was demanding the termination of my husband and me, due to our involvement with the Yuma Patriots Border Watch Group.

I believed this to be a discriminatory action, causing an offensive and hostile work environment. On 06/23/05 @ 11:20 AM, I notified my supervisor(s) and the PAIHS Human Resource Department using my work email account of the offensive and hostile action. I requested the PAIHS Human Resource Department help me prepare an EEO complaint and to notify the EEOC of this violation.

At 4:50 PM, the end of the workday, I went into my work email account to see if there was a response from one of my supervisor(s) or the PAIHS Human Resource Department. I was unable to access my email account.
Within 4 hours after my first email, my work email account had been disabled, at the orders of the CEO, Hortense Miguel and one of my supervisor’s Dr. Joyce Smith. I never received a response to this email to date. Not from the CEO, my supervisor or the PAIHS Human Resource Department.

14 days later, July 7, 2005, on my way back from my mother-in-law’s funeral on July 6, 2005 in Nebraska, my supervisor, Dr. Joyce Smith called my cell phone to tell me, that the Executive Committee at Ft. Yuma PHS Indian Hospital, had decided not to renew my contract for that year. In other words, I have been “Terminated”. I told her I was very surprised because before the end of May, my Requisition for the last year of this grant was approved by all the approving officials (those on the Executive Committee) and it had been sent off to the PAIHS Acquisition office to receive my Purchase Order Number. Besides this was a grant funded program and I was selected. This is not a permanent funded job from Indian Health Services that has to advertise for justification. She said they just wanted to see if someone in the community (a Native American) could do the job. I had been selected for this grant program and was given “Sole-Source”. There was never a thought or question of my not returning back after July 1, 2005 to finish the last year of this grant.

As a Yuma Patriot, I am doing the most American Patriotic thing I can do as a citizen of the United States of America. I am doing what President Bush requested November 8, 2001, “to be Vigilant, to add your eyes and ears to our efforts to find and stop those who want to do us harm …I call on all Americans to serve by bettering our communities and, thereby, defy and defeat the terrorists…

My husband and I volunteer our time as do other working Yuma Patriots, at least 3 times a week, we help our understaffed hardworking United States Border Patrol watch our porous border. We are their extra set of eyes and ears. The United States borders are being flooded with illegal aliens that just keep coming in. The Border Patrol Yuma Sector says 300 to 500 per day, which I truly believe that number to be much higher.

I really hope you can help me get the word out to the public and media. Federal Government should not be allowed to get by with this. No, matter how the Indian Health Service (IHS), PAIHS or Ft. Yuma PHS Indian Hospital want to word it. Because of the confrontations, the Yuma Patriots had with the Cocopah Tribe over their Sovereign land, where it sits on the border of Mexico, 3 ½ miles wide open, on June 8, 2005 and June 9, 2005, I lost my job. Because of some of the Cocopah Tribal, members on the Council wanted to bring damage to the Yuma Patriots. Since my husband and I were employed at the Ft.Yuma Indian Hospital, the Cocopah sought us out demanding the termination of our jobs.

It is all about politics and the authorities. Since I do not have the advantage in taxpayer dollars, as does the IHS/Government, I desperately need help as in a voice to the People. The EEOC, Raul Green, in San Diego, said I have no rights to file and it is okay to pass around a petition to have someone terminated during business hours. This is crazy. Is this the kind of people that are working for our Government? I do have rights. It is not right that the Federal Government can enforce laws on others, but can do whatever they choose because they are the Government. There was no conflict of interest to my job. I was a very good and responsible employee. I strived over 100% at my job. Other Indian Health facilities were modeling the immunization program I created that proved to be successful.

Sincerely,
Lauri St.Cyr

Contact Phone numbers:
Lauri St.Cyr
Home PH: (928) 345-1222
Cell PH: (928) 919-3564
Yuma Patriot Ph: (928) 446-1666

Flash Sharrar, Founder of Yuma Patriots
Cell PH: (928) 580-4511

John Minore, Attorney for Yuma Patriots
Cell PH: (928) 246-5211
Office: (928) 329-7838

Lorraine Rivera/ KSWT
KSWT PH: (928) 783-1300
Cell PH: (928) 257-8538

FYI- notes regarding my position as an independent contractor/grant funded program

I was an Independent Contract employee, “Immunization Specialist” at the Ft. Yuma PHS Indian Hospital. I was working on a California State grant funded by the Immunization Branch from Berkeley, CA. The funds come from the CDC - Vaccines for Children program. The state disperses grant funds every 3 years to Community Health Center’s (CHC’s) that are approved. My grant funds were sent to the Imperial County Public Health Department. My grant was budgeted in the Imperial Public Health Department funds. Every April, I am sent a Summary of Budget from the Imperial County Public Health Department. I fill this out and it is sent in to be budgeted in the Imperial budget for the next coming fiscal year.

As an Independent Contractor, I received no benefits from the Health & Human Services, Indian Health Service. Imperial County Public Health Department paid out the grant funds every quarter. Therefore, PAIHS would pay me, and each quarter, I would submit my invoices to the Imperial Public Health Department. They would send a check to the Ft. Yuma Indian Hospital to reimburse them for my wages. The Phoenix Indian Health Services was always paid back in full. No additional funds came from the PAIHS.

I have worked at the Ft. Yuma Indian Hospital since August 1999. I have worked as the Immunization Specialist using grant funds from the state of CA- since February 28, 2000. I am listed as “white”, a non-Indian. This year was the final and last year of the three-year grant, that began Fiscal Year 2003. Since this year is the last year of the grant from 2003, a new grant would have to be submitted to the Immunization Branch in Berkeley, CA to apply for another grant of 3 years. The last grant that I submitted to the Immunization Branch in the state of California had received over 235 applicants and because of funds, they could only accept 69 applicants, which the Ft. Yuma PHS Indian Hospital was fortunate enough to be accepted.

Because it is a grant program, you can be non-Indian and receive the job, if qualified and selected. I was selected for this position February 2000 and have remained until July 2005. The grant I work on was for the amount of $15,000.00 per year. The amount never changes for the full three years. The total amount of $15,000.00 I have worked with since February 2000 has never increased or decreased. I am usually out of funds for the whole month of June each year. The fiscal year for the state begins each July 1, ending on June 30 of each year. Different from the Federal fiscal year beginning and ending. So every June, I am out of work until July 1 when the grant funds are available again from the state of CA. My wait then depends on the PAIHS. I am unable to work at the service unit until they issue a Purchase Order number to me. As soon as I get a Purchase Order number from the PAIHS Acquisitions office, I am able to return to work.

The Ft. Yuma PHS Indian Hospital is physically located in Winterhaven, CA 92283

www.yumapatriots.org

aCTIVIST LOSES JOB OVER STANCE

YUMA ACTIVIST LOSES JOB OVER STANCE