Follow the Money, Part 5: Staffing Budgets and Marketing Bills—What Was Actually Spent?

Truth in Focus | Follow the Money | Part 5 of 6 | Version 1.5 (2026)

By Steven Bullcoming Haworth | Collaborator: Corry Bullcoming Haworth

What the 2022 council packet says

More than $1.1 million in personnel allocations and thousands of dollars in marketing invoices appear in the Northern Cheyenne Tribal Council’s March 21, 2022 statement and exhibits. The packet raises questions about hiring procedures, contract approvals, and American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) spending under former President Donna Fisher’s administration.

The statement is the Council’s account of a dispute, accompanied by budget schedules, billing records and a September 16, 2021 sole-source memorandum. The exhibits help establish what was proposed or invoiced; they do not automatically establish which amounts were actually paid.

Four positions; $1,148,103.42 in allocations

The Council listed a Chief of Staff allocation of $256,679.84 at $40 per hour; a Public Works Manager allocation of $334,493.60 at $52 per hour; a Senior Project Manager allocation of $393,043.58 at $62.10 per hour; and a Community Navigator I allocation of $163,886.40. Together, the figures total $1,148,103.42. The Council described several of these budgets as extending roughly 2.4 years.

Those are reported allocations for the positions, including personnel-related costs, not a verified record of what individual employees received. The Council alleged hiring rules were bypassed, job descriptions were absent, and positions went to friends or relatives of Fisher. The relevant hiring advertisements, applications, job classifications, approvals and payroll registers have not been independently reviewed here.

Kinetic Marketing: the invoice question

The Council reported $12,636 in questioned Kinetic Marketing charges and a subsequent collection notice. Its supporting material includes a $5,000 discovery session, a $7,000 photography-related charge, and invoices for communications and online application work. These services need to be evaluated separately so invoices are not inadvertently counted twice.

The September 16, 2021 memorandum describes a time-sensitive decision to use sole-source services to make ARPA applications available online. That document supplies a stated reason for the purchase, but the approved contract and any relevant procurement exception are still needed to evaluate compliance. A collection notice or an unpaid invoice does not prove that the Tribe disbursed the invoiced amount.

Which tribal rules apply?

The Tribe’s Personnel Manual governs hiring and employment but limits which provisions apply to elected officials. The Financial Management Manual addresses accounting, documentation and internal approvals. The Procurement and Purchasing Manual sets requirements and possible exceptions for acquiring professional services. Those rules provide testable standards, not automatic findings of wrongdoing.

A complete accounting requires more records

To calculate actual spending, Truth in Focus seeks approved personnel budgets, job descriptions, advertisements, hiring and payroll authorizations, time records, Kinetic’s engagement terms, sole-source approvals, accounts-payable history, vouchers, and cleared checks. The amounts approved, obligated, invoiced and disbursed should be reported separately.

Responses and corrections

Truth in Focus has contacted tribal officials and former officials on other governance and financial questions. We have not established that every employee or vendor named in these 2021 staffing and marketing records received a specific inquiry about those transactions. We welcome responses from Donna Fisher, tribal officials, Kinetic Marketing and people with direct records or firsthand knowledge.

Primary-source documents

Original sources, attributed allegations and unresolved questions are distinguished. Please submit firsthand documentation, corrections or responses to the Truth in Focus newsroom.