Veto override a step towards autonomy for Western Agency
By Noel Lyn Smith
Navajo Times
WINDOW ROCK, Aug. 19, 2010
On Monday the Intergovernmental Relations Committee voted 5-2 to forward Dele's veto override legislation to the full Council with a "do-pass" recommendation.
Called the Western Navajo Agency Decentralization Pilot Project, Dele's original bill was vetoed July 25 by Shirley.
At the heart of the project is a shift of services from the central government to agency control in Western Navajo, Dele told the IGR committee.
"For the past so many years all leaders that have been coming through have wanted to do this and here is a golden time for us to do it," he said.
Supporters of the decentralization plan believe it would bring government services closer to residents and would provide cost savings.
The new organization would resemble a county government headed by a director who would be elected by Western Agency voters. Besides existing services, other offices and departments would be developed to address specific needs of the Western Agency.
The measure would allow the Office of Navajo Government Development and the Western Agency Council to continue their efforts to delegate authority to the agency level.
On Aug. 6 the Transportation and Community Development Committee voted 7-0 to forward the override bill with a "do-pass" recommendation. The bill now goes to the Ethics and Rules Committee.
The pilot project bill was approved 52-9 by the Navajo Nation Council in a special session July 13. Shirley, however, said it has multiple problems.
"This legislation is completely unknown to the people it would directly affect," the president said in explanatory letter to Speaker Lawrence T. Morgan (Iyanbito/Pinedale). "This is legislation that the people of the Western Agency have not sought, know nothing about, and do not need."
The bill's backers did not supply a financial analysis to gauge its impact on the budget, Shirley wrote, adding that it would duplicate existing government services and drain financial resources from other agencies.
"The huge costs associated with replicating whole divisions, departments and services that are already provided is unknown, have had no review or analysis by the Office of Management and Budget, and could potentially jeopardize existing federal grant agreements," he wrote.
Shirley pointed out that most pilot projects are federally funded and administered by the appropriate division director within the executive branch.
He also questioned the motive for the bill, stating that the project would encourage separatism.
"Separatist movements are most often launched because of emotional resentment, resistance, the desire to gain politically from intergroup conflict, and a desire to destabilize and fragment an existing government," he wrote.
"It is not unreasonable to see these motivations at work through legislation recently considered and/or passed by the council because of the government reform initiatives passed by the people."
The Western Agency is the only area that did not approve Shirley's two government reform initiatives, reducing the membership of the Council and expanded veto power for the president, in a Dec. 15 special election.
Both measures passed by wide margins in the other agencies but were narrowly defeated by Western Navajo voters.
An effort to overturn the election was then launched by a Leupp Chapter voter, whom the council backed with $150,000 in tribal money to fund his legal costs.
The Navajo Nation Supreme Court ended his case, however, with a May 28 decision upholding a hearing officer's finding that the complaint failed on technical grounds.
After the IGR meeting, Dele said the bid for more regional autonomy is not sour grapes and is not a new idea.
"There's no such thing as retaliation on anything. We were talking about this a long time before he (Shirley) started this (Council reduction to) 24 thing," Dele said, adding that the Western Navajo Agency Council has been discussing the project since 2003.
Thomas Walker (Birdsprings/Leupp/Tolani Lake) is also involved with the pilot project.
"This idea that there's retaliation is somebody's opinion and we'll listen to that," Walker said.
As for Shirley's claim that the program would create a duplication of services, Dele disagreed.
"There's no duplication, its just reassigning positions and programs out there," he said.
The backers also denied that the public was not informed of the proposal.
"To say that the people don't know or there's no input is not accurate. People did discuss and vote on supporting the decentralization idea," Walker said.
He added that some chapters within the Western Agency have resolutions in support of the project.
But the only resolution attached to the legislation was issued by the Western Navajo Agency Council, which approved the pilot project during a March 20 meeting at Chilchinbeto Chapter.
In addition to the agency council, three Council committees gave it a "do-pass" recommendation - Transportation and Community Development, Intergovernmental Relations, and Ethics and Rules.
"Once we do ours, then other agencies can use that model and start doing their own (decentralization) too," Dele said.
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