Issue link: http://www.insightdigital.biz/i/147468
UPFRONT face time P H OTO G R A P H B Y b i l l k ap i n s k i / I M A G E S T U D I O S , F O R I N SI G H T Elaine Willman Elaine Willman has been director of community development and tribal affairs in the village of Hobart since January 2008. She's the author of "Going to Pieces: The Dismantling of the United States of America" and has served as chairwoman of the board for the Citizens Equal Rights Alliance, or CERA, on which she is still active. Willman talked with Insight Associate Editor Nikki Kallio about her work in Hobart. w w w. i n s i g h t o n b u s i n e s s . c o m on tribal affairs in Hobart I came to Hobart because of a book that I had written on Indian policy. Hobart had very serious issues in the early 2000s with aggressive Indian policy. My whole background is working with small governments in economic development, so it was a perfect fit for what they needed – one person who could address Indian policy and community and economic development. It's been an amazingly wonderful fit. I had my own consulting business in Toppenish, Wash., and I served as an elected official there. I left everything to come here because I believed very much in the local elected officials that were committed to protecting their community, and I had a very high regard for all the tribes in the country, and the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin has a very good reputation. I thought if there was a place we could solve difficult problems, it's probably in Hobart. I am of Cherokee ancestry – my mother and grandmother were enrolled members, and my husband is Shoshone. So this is about government decisionmaking, which is separate from the issue of respect for all cultures. When I arrived in 2008, the tribe had packaged up 3,000 acres of parcels to remove from the property tax base. That would've taken one-fourth of the community of Hobart's [continued] » A u g u s t 2 013 • Insight | 17