Thompson and Hansen served as in-house legal counsel for the tribe. Batchell successfully lobbied Congress on the tribe's behalf for restoration of an 80,000-plus acre oil-shale reserve that was originally excised from the reservation in 1905. He later obtained the rights to develop that reserve. Israel represented the tribe's interests in its water-settlement efforts with the federal government.

Cesspooch said the coalition's demand on this issue won't be met.

"We're not going to pass a resolution saying that we're going to be barring specific people," he said, "but there are some people that we're definitely not going to use."

Cesspooch said that while he and the other Business Committee members have no intention of complying with the coalition's terms, they are dedicated to bringing openness to tribal government. He said quarterly membership meetings will serve as a forum to address concerns.

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E-mail: geoff@ubtstandard.com