Over the weekend, Coeur d'Alene tribal members cast their votes to fill three open Coeur d'Alene Tribal Council positions.

Chief J. Allan was again re-elected to the Tribal Council. Since he was first elected to the council in 2003, this will be Allan's fifth consecutive three-year term.

"It's been a great honor to serve my people and my Tribe and I look forward to another three years," Allan said. "We have faced our share of ups and downs over the years and there is always more work to be done, but I'm optimistic that our council will continue to work together as a team to lead our Tribe forward in a positive direction."

The tribal voters also chose to re-elect Donald E. Sczenski and elected newcomer Margaret SiJohn to fill the other two open seats. Sczenski is a local business owner who will be serving his second consecutive term on Tribal Council. SiJohn earned her Executive Master of Business Administration from the University of Idaho and works as the hotel director for the Coeur d'Alene Casino Resort Hotel.

In a Monday morning swearing-in ceremony at the Rose Creek Longhouse in Worley, the seven-member council unanimously re-elected Allan to another year as the chairman of the Tribe, a position he has held since 2005. Ernie Stensgar will retain the position of vice chairman of the Tribal Council and Sczenski was nominated to serve as the council's secretary-treasurer, a position he held going into the weekend's elections.

The seven seats on the Coeur d'Alene Tribal Council are staggered, with each councilmember serving a three-year term. In this year's election, 10 individuals ran for the three open positions. The candidates receiving the highest number of votes were elected to council. On the Monday following each year's election, the Tribal Council votes to select a chairman, vice chairman and secretary/treasurer for one-year terms.