Shirley initiative divides branches
By Jason Begay
Navajo Times
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President Joe Shirley Jr.'s government reform initiative that would cut the council by two-thirds and give the president more veto power has divided the tribal government.
Shirley's initiative comes in two parts: the first would ask voters to decide if the Navajo Nation Council should be reduced from 88 to 24 delegates; the second would ask voters to decide if the president should have line item veto authority on council-approved legislative bills.
This would be the first time in 20 years that the tribe has undergone any type of government reform, a term which itself has become a nearly empty campaign promise. That is, until now.
"Government reform has been on the Navajo Nation's plate for decades ever since the reorganization of the tribal government system," Shirley said in an interview Wednesday. "The people have been asking for it even before I was president."
However, the legislative branch has branded Shirley's initiative as "confusing" to the public and divisive to the government.
"The president's initiative will cause confusion for our Navajo people," Speaker Lawrence T. Morgan (Iyanbito/Pinedale) said in a statement. "The Navajo people will suffer from this misguided attempt at reform."
Morgan, who did not reply to a request for an interview, also questioned why Shirley would bring the issue up six years after his original election to president, alluding that the initiative was spurred by recent council actions.
Not a matter of timing
However, Shirley said his initiative is not a matter of timing. It is one of several major issues that he told voters his administration would address. The list also includes water, land and religious rights, the Bennett Freeze, gaming and education reform.
"It's a matter of doing what we said we were going to do," he said. "They are all big and humungous initiatives and they take a lot of time. I still have two and a half years to go and now is the time to address government reform."
Shirley said government reform is long overdue. A reduced council would improve government efficiency, deter micromanagement by council committees and balance power more evenly among the three branches, he said.
Mostly, reducing the council would curb spending, both on the council floor where it's common for the legislative body to deplete the tribe's financial stores, and on salaries and per diem and fringe benefits payments.
Delegates are paid $25,000 annually. They also receive regular stipends including $60 for attending each committee and council meeting.
In April, Morgan sponsored a bill increasing the amount delegates are paid for attending chapter, agency and caucus meetings from $250 to $300.
"Wasting money has got to stop," Shirley said in a statement Wednesday. "That's why we have these initiatives, to save money to put into direct services."
Shirley 'retaliation'
Morgan, in a statement released Tuesday, said the initiative was likely Shirley's retaliation against a council that has often voted to override his vetoes.
It's true that the council has overridden most of Shirley's vetoes in the past six years, particularly those concerning spending bills.
The council also voted down a legislative bill in 2006 that would have given Shirley the line item veto power he now seeks in his initiative.
Shirley's initiative is mostly a sign of his own unwillingness to diplomatically work with the council, Morgan said.
He also pointed out that Shirley's plan only targets the legislative branch, just one of the tribe's three governmental branches.
"If anything, the Navajo people will lose their voice in the tribal government under the proposed initiative," Morgan said. "This is not a democratic form of government. Our Navajo people will always desire representation."
Shirley has already submitted language to the Navajo Election Administration that would be placed on a ballot for voters.
His task force now has three months to collect 16,000 signatures of registered voters. Once the signatures are gathered and certified, the initiative would be included in the Nov. 4 election.
New reapportionment plan
If passed in a referendum vote, the council would be powerless to counter the initiative without launching its own petition drive for a separate election, the president's office said in a press release.
In the meantime, the Navajo Election Administration would begin to revise the reapportionment plan to ensure that the proposed 24 delegate positions were evenly representing the reservation's population.
The council would have until August 2009 to approve the reapportionment plan. Under the ballot language, Shirley would have the authority to approve the plan by Oct. 30, 2009, if the council fails to do so.
If passed, the plan would take affect in 2011, when the next administration would take office.
This would, by no means, be the first time the nation has voted on reducing the council.
In 2000, a majority of Navajo voters casting ballots - more than 22,000 -elected to reduce the council to 24 members.
However, election laws at the time required referendum requests to pass with more than 50 percent of all registered voters, regardless of how many cast a ballot.
The Navajo Nation currently has more than 110,000 registered voters. Voter turnout is usually around 40 percent.
However, the council itself voted in 2003 to change that law to make way for a referendum approving gaming on the reservation, an initiative that was also hampered by the election law.
Report: Reduce size
In 2001, the Commission and Office of Navajo Government Development released a report that summarized findings of focus groups and government reform summits. According to its findings, the report concluded that the council should be reduced in size and its powers limited.
The move would "save money on salaries and reduce the potential for corruption and mismanagement," the report stated.
One participant from Shiprock said: "(Eighty-eight) is way too many for people to sit down and have a heart to heart discussion, to make decisions, have a focused vision."
In 2002, more than 200 people representing each chapter and several outside organizations met at the "Navajo Nation Statutory Reform Convention."
The groups drafted 29 amendments that included reducing the council. The amendments were never acted on.