A chilly blast

 

J oseph Kennedy II, CEO of Citizens Energy, took the brunt of a community's disappointment with the central Navajo government when he came to the Cameron Chapter last week with a proposal to build wind-power generators here.

The tribe has been looking to develop wind power on Gray Mountain, about five miles from Cameron, for several years, ever since preliminary studies identified it as a high-potential spot for the alternative energy source.

But from there the chapter and the central government have taken separate paths, with chapter officials talking to a Utah-based company that has worked to build the trust of locals through repeated visits and hands-on assistance of a kind grassroots people appreciate.

The tribal government, meanwhile, has looked to the Diné Power Authority to initiate action, which has been limited to doing some additional research on the best sites for wind power on the reservation.

Then, in March, Kennedy visited Window Rock and presented an ambitious plan to develop wind power through the nonprofit company he heads, Citizens Energy.

After meeting privately with officials in the Navajo government and Shirley administration, Kennedy made a public appearance before the Navajo Nation Council that received widespread media attention.

He followed up with Thursday's visit to Cameron, for what was supposed to be a get-acquainted meeting where he would discuss his company's roots helping low-income Americans and how utilizing the nonprofit would, in the long run, benefit Cameron more than going with International Piping Products, the company the chapter is working with now.

Kennedy, who is the son of the late Sen. Robert Kennedy and nephew of the late President John F. Kennedy, came to the chapter in a show of good will.

He hoped to demonstrate that Citizens Energy has the people's best interests in mind when negotiating with the tribal government for permission to build a wind-power installation like those it has done elsewhere in the country.

Instead Kennedy was bombarded with accusations that he was negotiating with President Joe Shirley Jr. and Window Rock officials behind the backs of Cameron residents.

Kennedy responded that he was only following the advice he'd received from several people about how best to approach the Navajo Nation. He said he was told to start with the central government, and speak first with Shirley and Diné Power Authority, the tribe's energy development enterprise.

Facing skepticism

The meeting started off well enough, with the boisterous and outspoken former congressman entering the chapter house with his wife and then shaking hands with every person in attendance.

He even posed for some pictures, generally loosening up the tense atmosphere.

Kennedy attempted to introduce himself in Navajo, and many in the audience of about 50 offered help when he could not pronounce "yinishyé" (my name is).

Then Kennedy proceeded to explain his company's nonprofit focus - channeling all of its profits to help low-income people - and his aim to take on the big energy companies.

In contrast, Kennedy said, Sempra Energy, the power company brought in by IPP, is a for-profit energy giant with different goals.

By charter - the legal document on which a corporation is founded - a for-profit company must distribute profits among its shareholders or, for private companies, among the owners. Sempra, which owns San Diego Gas & Electric among other things, keeps all of its own profits for its own interests, Kennedy said.

But from there the meeting went downhill.

One chapter member, visibly agitated, interrupted Kennedy to ask him why he had not come to Cameron before negotiating with Shirley.

Kennedy responded that knowledgeable people, including former President Peterson Zah, advised him that it was proper to go through the central government in such matters.

"I can't dictate internal tribal politics," Kennedy said. "I respect your government but I do not meddle. I was told to deal with the tribe, and then the tribe deals with the chapters."

Another man pressed the issue, putting the same question to Kennedy.

"It's your own government, not mine, that told us how to go about developing a wind farm," Kennedy replied. "They said, 'Don't go to the individual chapter.' Now, that is a decision between you and your elected government."

By this time both Kennedy and many of the mostly elderly, Navajo-speaking chapter members in attendance were frustrated. Questions were shouted out and Kennedy attempted to respond, but was not always heard - or understood - as translation from English to Navajo was often delayed, or was sometimes forgotten in the back-and-forth.

The residents' comments were colored by a previous deal involving the tribal government when the chapter OK'd a major electric transmission line for which, they say, they still have not received the promised benefits.

Chapter member Mary Begay alluded to this history, saying, "We asked (then President) Peterson Zah to help us. It's on our land, but all the money went to Window Rock.

"We asked him, 'Take care of your people' - but nothing!" she said. "They say that the money's up there sitting in Window Rock and there's none over here. That doesn't sit well with me."

Another of Begay's comments revealed the way some chapter residents perceive the workings of the central tribal government.

"There are white people standing behind those people in Window Rock telling them to take the money," Begay said. "I guess this time they said, 'Go to Gray Mountain.'"

Ed Singer, chapter president-elect, said Cameron residents had already chosen the company they wanted to work with, so Citizens was too late in coming.

Not everyone had made up their minds. Pauline Denetsosie took the microphone to advise the chapter not to mistake Citizens Energy as the central government.

While many who spoke were disappointed with the tribal government for not sharing money received last year from Citizens and another company, Denetsosie said it was unfair to blame Kennedy and his company, who had no say in how that money was distributed.

In a good-will gesture, Citizens and Citgo, Venezuela's national oil company, together gave $430,000 for heating assistance to low-income Navajos.

"We can't be blaming Mr. Kennedy for our lack of laws," Denetsosie said.

As Kennedy himself began to notice the attitude toward the tribal government voiced by many in the meeting, he began to realize the uphill battle he faced in Cameron, and said perhaps their anger had gotten to "the point that whatever Citizens does, it will not be enough."

Kennedy went on to say that he just wanted a chance to earn the trust of the Cameron residents and to show that his company would provide a better deal to the chapter and the tribe as a whole.

But it seemed, for many residents, that Kennedy and Citizens Energy are too closely connected with the unpopular tribal government.

After the meeting, council delegate Jack Colorado (Bodaway-Gap/Cameron/Coppermine), said there was "confusion between Window Rock and (Cameron)."

"DPA is saying IPP and Sempra are working with us illegally, but we feel more comfortable with these companies," Colorado said. "They've helped us fix earthen dams, fix the Internet at the chapter house, and haul water for chapter people. That's the kind of working together that the chapter wants."

For his part, Kennedy is disappointed that his nonprofit company was perceived as money hungry and working only in its own interests.

"When you look at us paying attention to the way the central tribe defined the proposal process, my specific visit to the chapter is appropriate," Kennedy said in response to the accusation that he waited too late to make a personal appearance in Cameron.

"The basic point I wanted to make is, the tribe itself laid out the process," he added. "All we've done as a nonprofit organization is to adhere exactly to the process by which you are awarded a contract to build a wind farm."

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