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Native Americans question USDA restructuring
Story Date: 12/1/2017
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Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 11/30/17
Perdue has his work cut out for him in forging a good working relationship with Native American tribes because of the change that his reorganization of the USDA brought to the Office of Tribal Relations. That quickly became apparent during a Wednesday phone briefing of the Council for Native American Farming and Ranching, whose members voiced concern about the new structure.
The problem: In early September, Perdue announced that the broader restructuring would create an Office of Partnerships and Public Engagement within the Office of the Secretary, and the Office of Tribal Relations would be absorbed into it. USDA is well aware of the pushback. In fact, Diane Cullo, an adviser to Perdue who is serving as acting director of the new office, told the council: "We understood that the perception of this reorganization may hinder our relationship."
Cullo said the change is intended to help with the problem of diminishing resources. "Our department-wide Office of Tribal Relations is very small and lost about 48 percent of its funding in the past eight years," Cullo said during the call. "The Office of Tribal Relations has not lost its direct report to Secretary Perdue."
Call me: Cullo gave board members her cell phone number. She also agreed to a request made by Mark Wadsworth, the council's chairman, for a meeting with Perdue within the next year. She pledged to work on carving out money for the council to meet twice a year.
Not everyone was unhappy: Jerry McPeak, a former Oklahoma state representative and member of the Muscogee Creek Nation, said he was relieved to see that Perdue was focusing more on customer service. But he stressed that USDA should also try and do a better job of communicating with the council. "The customer service attitude, we think, helps us," said McPeak, a Democrat. "There is just that loss of sensitivity and urgency from the ground to D.C."
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