John Rader, who signed a March 20 Quapaw Grievance Resolution calling for an investigation of three Downstream Development Authority members, who are also on the tribe’s Quapaw Business Committee, has asked that his name be taken off the document, stating he did not clearly understand what he was signing.

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QUAPAW, Okla. – In an April 1 letter to the Quapaw Business Committee, Quapaw Grievance Committee Chairman John Rader, one of three QGC members, wrote that the other two members have made misrepresentations to the press concerning QGC actions.
Rader states that one misrepresentation was that he resigned, which he states he has not. He also states that contrary to the claims by fellow QGC members – Mickey Wilson and Jim Greenfeather – the QGC has not conducted a formal meeting since October 2009.
“Certainly, the three elected members communicated and met for informal communications. However, I was careful not to call a meeting after I was advised in October 2009, that what I wanted did not matter as they intended to out vote me,” Rader wrote.
Rader, who signed a March 20 Quapaw Grievance Resolution calling for an investigation of three Downstream Development Authority members, who are also on the tribe’s Quapaw Business Committee, has asked that his name be taken off the document, stating he did not clearly understand what he was signing.
The resolution signed by Rader, Wilson and Greenfeather accuses DDA Chairman John Berrey, Vice Chairman Willis “J.R.” Matthews Jr. and member George “Ranny” McWatters Jr. of personally profiting from their positions on the DDA, which manages the tribe’s casino and hotel.
The 13-page resolution accuses Berrey, Matthews and McWatters of misconduct involving hundreds of thousands of tribal dollars.
However, Rader states in his letter that his committee is not licensed to address gaming issues and that a tribal law puts the Tribal Gaming Agency in charge of all gaming issues.
“The Tribal Gaming Agency appears to have, through numerous calls from Grievance Committee Members, taken all complaints of the Grievance Committee about gaming matters for investigation,” Rader wrote.
According to his letter, Rader was satisfied with the proper nature of gaming actions of the DDA during a confidential review on March 19 and that a Quapaw Business Committee resolution indicated that DDA expenditures had been individually reviewed for elected officials by Business Committee members.
“With both Business Committee review and Tribal Gaming Agency review, I am confident Quapaw interests are well protected though outside formal Grievance Committee jurisdiction,” Rader wrote.
In a public statement, Berrey said the people making the allegations against him, Matthews and McWatters, are working outside of the tribe’s governing resolution and that the allegations themselves are “bits and pieces of our daily business.”
Rader states in his letter that he refused to serve Business Committee members a request for a Quapaw Indian Council meeting and collected what he thought were all copies of the QGC request for the meeting to discuss the allegations.
Wilson and Greenfeather have issued a statement claiming that Berrey is suggesting a division of the QGC negates the charges of misconduct. In a March 31 statement, Wilson and Greenfeather state that Berrey’s division argument does nothing to change the fact that there are numerous instances of misconduct and the Quapaw Indian Council needs to assemble to decide what to do about it.
Also in that statement, Wilson and Greenfeather state Berrey has not explained why he used his Downstream credit card to make thousands of dollars of purchases, including such things as vacation trips to Montana for fly fishing, expenses at the Super Bowl and other personal expenses.
Merlin Kent Jones Jr., Downstream Casino Chief Financial Officer, said it is the casino’s policy that any personal expenses incurred on company credit cards by employees of the casino, including DDA members, be reimbursed to the casino.
According to an April 1 report, Jones said Berrey, Mathews and McWatters have reimbursed Downstream for all previously incurred personal expenses on company cards.