Sterud returns to role of chairman with Puyallup Tribal Council
Puyallup Tribal Council recently voted for a change in leadership in its first meeting after a recent election.
James Rideout, who won re-election to the council for a second term on Aug. 1, and Monica Miller, who won her first term, were sworn in Aug. 6.
Shortly after the swearing-in ceremony, council members chose Bill Sterud as chairman and Sylvia Miller vice-chairwoman.
Sterud replaces David Bean, who was elected to serve as chairman in 2019, replacing Sterud at that time. Sterud then became vice chairman.
Sterud has served in various roles on the council since 1978 and has served as chairman and vice chairman at various times since then. Bean remains on the council.
Rideout and Miller were elected to 3-year terms as part of the Tribe’s seven-person governing body.
Miller unseated Tim Reynon in the recent election, which had been delayed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bean and Sterud along with the council oversaw the opening of the Tribe’s new Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, which faced opening delays because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The casino opened June 8 and a little more than a month later faced an OSHA complaint over alleged COVID safety concerns. The casino’s operators said the allegations were “not supported” after their own review.
The delay in opening and temporary shutdowns of the Tribe’s casino sites in Tacoma and Fife early in the pandemic led to furloughs and layoffs as the economic downturn unfolded.
Sterud has through the years been involved in the Tribe’s economic development, including its casinos and work in the cannabis industry, as well as marina, gas tax and land trust oversight.
“I promise that there will be a diversified economy in the Puyallup Tribe,” Sterud said in the Tribe’s news release announcing the new leadership.
“The Council that has been seated will work together,” he said. “They’re all good people that I’ve worked with in the past.”
According to the release, Sylvia Miller was first elected to the council in the 1990s and has been the governing body’s natural resources and wildlife representative. She’s also directed the Job Training Partnership Act program and created an incentive program that paid dollars to Tribal members who earned their GEDs and helped prepare for the exam.
“I’d like to say to all people that what I’ve learned from this Tribe, you’ve never going to learn from a textbook,” Miller said in the release. “I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to serve all these years. It’s the best education anyone could ever have.”
Rideout has been involved with the Tribe’s fishing and seafood harvesting programs and is the uncle of Jacqueline Salyers, whose death in a Tacoma police shooting prompted the “Justice for Jackie” movement. According to the release, Rideout advocated for Initiative 940 and other measures to bridge divides between communities and law enforcement.
“I’m very eager and optimistic to do everything I can to maintain our culture,” Rideout said during the swearing-in ceremony.
Council member Monica Miller, a sister of the vice chairwoman, has served the Tribe in various roles for more than 40 years, creating and serving as director of the Per Capita Department. In 2011, she created and became director of the Department of the Representative Payee, “which exists to protect Tribal beneficiaries and their financial assets from exploitation, and for members who want help with bill-paying and other financial transactions,” according to the release.
“My mission is always to work for the Tribal members to make sure their assets, their per capitas, their waters, their lands, their berries, their sovereign rights – everything – is protected,” she said in the release.
