1. January 25, 2016
Re: Letter of Recommendation
Ms. Donna Howard
Please allow me to begin by stating that I could not be more pleased to offer this letter of
recommendation on behalf of Ms. Donna Howard to work for the State of Oregon.
I am an attorney, having practiced law for nearly 40 years. My practice is in federal Indian
law and our firm acts as general counsel for federally-recognized Indian tribes located across the
United States. I was first introduced to Donna in April of 2013, when she was hired by the
Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians to work as an Administrator to the Tribal Council—
the governing body of the Tribe pursuant to the Tribe’s duly-enacted Constitution. As anyone
familiar with Indian Country—and with Tribal governments more specifically—knows, a Tribal
Administrator is assigned on a daily basis to a myriad of tasks requiring a high level of
organization, communication, coordination and analytical skills and, perhaps most importantly,
patience and the ability to defuse tempers as they rise based upon the often divergent political and
social views of various individual Tribal Council members. I can personally attest to the fact that
Donna exhibits all of these skills—and more—in spades.
Donna’s position was made all the more challenging due to the Tribe’s embroilment in an
extremely bitter and highly-publicized intra-tribal dispute, commencing in 2011. Not only did at
least four groups of individuals come forward pronouncing not only to Tribal members but also to
local, state and federal agencies that they constituted the lawful Tribal Council, but some also
called into question the very heritage and identity of the Tribe’s membership (i.e. they challenged
the composition of the Tribal membership)—some suggesting that the Tribe consisted of not more
than 43 members.1
Understandably, this ongoing dispute resulted in confusion among local, state
and federal authorities as to which group represented the lawful governing body under Tribal law.
This confusion, in turn, ultimately led to the temporary loss of certain federal funding historically
dedicated to housing, educational, health care and other programs developed for the Tribe’s
membership—funding upon which those members deeply depend. It further resulted in the
temporary closure of the Tribe’s gaming facility which was established to promote economic self-
sufficiency for the Tribe and serves as the primary source of the Tribe’s monthly per capita
payments to its members—at the order of both the National Indian Gaming Commission (“NIGC”)
and the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California.
Thus, during her tenure with the Tribe, Donna was tasked with a myriad of assignments
ranging from the scheduling and organization of meetings between the Tribe and members of local,
1
The Tribe, in fact, consists of just over 900 members, the majority of whom Donna had regular or repeated contact
with during her tenure as Tribal Council Administrator.

2. Letter of Recommendation for Donna Howard
January 25, 2016
Page 2 of 3
state and federal government agencies to discuss important government-to-government issues, to
the drafting, circulation and approval of proposed Tribal law, to the reviewing of the Tribe’s
federal grant proposals for compliance with applicable law, to the scheduling, assembling and
orchestrating of the Tribe’s Elections and General Council Meetings (which in and of itself
involves the preparation proposed budgets, the drafting of ballots, referenda and/or agendas, the
reservation of venues, the circulation of announcements, as well as to acting as a liaison with Tribal
members to explain issues to be addressed at said elections and meetings, to communicating the
outcome of the same to the Tribal membership as well as to local, state and federal agencies).2
She
successfully oversaw and nearly single-handedly administered two Tribal Elections and four
General Council Meetings while employed with the Tribe.
In addition to her office as Tribal Administrator, she also served as the Clerk of the Tribal
Court, established in 2013. Prior to her employment with the Tribe, a Court had been approved,
but not yet established, under Tribal law. Upon her appointment as Clerk of the Court, Donna was
instrumental in the Court’s establishment and its daily operations—working closely with the Court
Chief Judge in drafting Court Rules and Procedures adopted by the Tribe, establishing Tribal Court
offices and telephone lines for telephonic appearances by counsel, establishing an electronic
management system for Court cases, and maintaining calendars and dockets in over a dozen cases
filed in the Court.
Finally and perhaps most impressively, in what amounted to a very tumultuous time in the
Tribe’s history, Donna served as a “voice of reason,” displaying an almost—in my estimation—
unparalleled dedication to the Tribe and its membership’s best interests. Receiving dozens, if not
hundreds, of telephone calls from Tribal members expressing dismay, anger or outright despair
concerning the interruption of certain Tribal programs, she intently and patiently listened to the
concerns raised, documented them, and thereafter worked incessantly to facilitate discussions with,
and to bring these issues to, the Tribal Council to have them placed on the agenda and discussed
at regular meetings. Simply put, she displayed a very unique quality of being both honest and
candid, and yet discrete, in her attempts to diffuse situations and find a fair, common ground for
all involved.
In sum, Donna is an extremely well-rounded, hard-working, dedicated, organized,
intelligent, passionate and compassionate individual who would be an asset to any agency
fortunate enough to retain her. She has not only been a tremendous asset to the Tribe, but also an
asset to me in my efforts to adequately and ethically represent my client. I therefore strongly urge
you to consider her as a candidate for employment.
…
…
2
Please note that Tribal Elections and General Council Meetings are open to all Tribal members eighteen years of
age or older — or over 800 members; thus accurately and effectively communicating with the General Council on
these issues is no small feat.

3. Letter of Recommendation for Donna Howard
January 25, 2016
Page 3 of 3
Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at (480) 241-6049.
Sincerely,
Richard G. Verri, Esq.*
*Admitted to practice law only in the District of Columbia, Rhode Island and Ohio. Practice is limited to Federal Indian law,
Tribal law and Federal law.