"Bob Mercer recently published a column titled “Bribes, lies and debt — Crow Creek Sioux Tribe is a disaster,” discussing the many negative political events on Crow Creek that have recently appeared in the news.

It is not my intention to comment on any of those, but instead to focus on some rather impetuous and unsupported statements that were made toward the end of the article. While I appreciated Mr. Mercer’s passionate plea for strong ethical governance — nations, cities, and states all bear a sacred responsibility to their citizens — there were many troubling aspects of this column.

Mr. Mercer closed his article with the statement “What became clear is a reservation, at least Crow Creek, isn’t a safe place to do business.” While he acknowledged that as a “harsh statement,” let me go as far as to say that this statement is also unfounded and reckless. In the short time I have worked on Crow Creek, I have seen hard-working, high-impact programs administering federal money with dedicated and capable financial management, such as the Crow Creek Housing Authority and Head Start. More importantly, I have seen dozens of new businesses open on Crow Creek. "

Get the Story:
Krystal Langholz: Businesses can grow, thrive on Crow Creek reservation (The Mitchell Daily Republic 9/1)

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