A Shee Atiká shareholder and her young daughter. Shareholders gathered in January to review the corporation’s financial statements, which show a revenue loss since 2010. (Emily Russell/KCAW)

State regulators have ordered Shee Atiká, Inc. to extend balloting for its board of directors through Saturday (5-20-17), after ruling that the corporation misrepresented the qualifications of an independent candidate.

Through mailing and e-mails earlier this month, the corporation told shareholders that Lillian Young was ineligible to run because she is an employee of Sitka Tribe of Alaska. On Wednesday (05-17-17), the state Division of Banking and Securities ruled that was a “material misrepresentation” of the rules.

See that ruling here: Signed Final Consent Order #17-126-S

Under Shee Atiká’s bylaws, Young is in fact prohibited from holding a seat on the board of directors while also serving as a Tribal employee. But nothing prohibits her from running.

Dionne Brady Howard is one of the independent proxy holders, collecting votes on behalf of shareholders. She sees Shee Atiká’s actions as a deliberate attempt to block independent candidates from getting elected.

“Corporations can choose to include independent candidates on their proxy if they so choose, which Sealaska opts to do. They don’t set a bunch of obstacles in the way of independent candidates who are seeking board seats, even against the board nominated candidates,” Brady-Howard said.

In compliance with the order from Banking and Securities, Shee Atiká published a corrective statement on their website.

The urban native corporation has lost millions of dollars in revenue in recent years, with CEO Ken Cameron at the helm. Fearing financial mismanagement, Brady and other like-minded shareholders are pushing for new representation on the Board of Directors.

Three seats are open in this years’ elections. The corporation is recommending Joshua Horan, Faleene Worrell and Shirley Yocum for those slots, while the independent group has submitted their own slate of candidates. They are Laurence Garrity, Roxanne Drake Burkhart, and Lillian Young.

Balloting will continue through registration at the corporation’s annual meeting, which begins at 9 a.m. in the Odess Theater on the Sheldon Jackson Fine Arts Campus.

Shee Atika was formed under the Alaska Native Land Claims Settlement Act of 1971, with some 2300 shareholders.