Welcome Back Harry Davis
With 16 years previous experience, Davis is ready for another 4-year term
Harry Davis was elected to the office of District III Representative and sworn into duty on July 12, 2022, for a four-year term. However, this is not his first time serving as the District III Representative. He has 16 years of previous experience serving in the role.
Davis was first elected into the office of District III Representative in 1998. He was reelected for two more terms, serving until 2010. He was reelected again in 2014, serving until 2018. And recently, he was reelected again in 2022.
Davis has had decades of experience serving the Mille Lacs Band in leadership roles and is ready to put those years of experience to work for his constituents once again. Prior to serving his first term as District III Representative, he devoted his talents to Grand Casino Hinckley as a lead slot technician from 1992 to 1998.
His primary goal for serving this term is to help his constituents. “The Band members needed my help to make their lives better,” he said.
Although he has been in office this time around for a few months now, he said he is still adjusting to the new ways Band Assembly is currently being run. “Things have changed a lot since the last time I was in office,” he said. “Everything went from in-person meetings to Zoom meetings. That is new for me. And we only meet once a week in-person in Mille Lacs. Meetings used to rotate between all Districts.”
The addition of live-streaming Band Assembly meetings has resulted in limiting the official meetings to the formal Band Assembly chambers where all of the essential technical equipment has been professionally installed and is operated by trained members of the Legislative Branch. The first Band Assembly meeting that was live-streamed was June 2, 2021. Band members can log in to the Band website to watch the meetings live during session. Meetings are usually held at 10 a.m. each Wednesday.
The website also has an archive of all live-streamed Band Assembly meetings. That way, if a Band member misses the live-stream while in session, you can still log in and view the video at any time that is convenient once the video version has been uploaded to the website, which can sometimes take a few days.
The addition of live-streaming has provided the opportunity for more Band members to be a part of the Band Assembly meetings whether viewing the session live, or from the video archive.
The COVID-19 pandemic introduced society to other ways of communication and conducting business on a daily basis. Zoom has proven to be a very useful tool that affords the opportunity to hold meetings without needing to travel. While these internet meetings can be convenient that way, they can also eliminate the personal connections. It is for that reason, Davis said, “I prefer in-person meetings.”
Davis said he feels this term in office is off to a good start. The District III community meetings have been very helpful, informative and fun. Davis is ready to serve his constituents to the best of his ability. “I would like to thank all of the District III Band members for allowing me to serve again,” he added.