Transition going smoothly, officials say

Forget about transition worries for the incoming Shelly-Jim administration. It's not happening.

"It's going terrific," said Deswood Tome, the man President-elect Ben Shelly chose to oversee the new administration's transition efforts.

This marks the first time since Peterson Zah turned over the reins to Peter MacDonald Sr. back in 1986 that there have been no reports of tension between the outgoing and incoming administrations.

And despite the fact that Shelly and current President Joe Shirley Jr. are reported to have been barely speaking to each other for most of 2010, the two have managed to repair their relationship in the past couple of months and worked well together to make the transition as smooth as possible, according to members of both the Shelly and Shirley transition teams.

Since the election of Shelly and Rex Lee Jim, applications have been flowing in for jobs within the new administration.

"We have had roughly 300 applications come in so far," said Tome, who also estimated that the new administration will have about 40 vacancies to fill, most in the president's office and the various executive positions within the divisions.

A few of the current Shirley appointees have submitted applications, he said.

Shelly and Jim have set up a four-member committee, which includes Tome, to go through the applications and try to come up with a recommendation of the top three or four for each of the positions. In some cases, a person may get on the list of recommendations for more than one position.

Tome said the committee  began going through the applications last week and started sending their recommendations to Shelly and Jim this week so they can start conducting interviews.

Tome said both Shelly and Jim will be given copies of all of the resumes so that if they don't like any of the people who have been recommended, they could go through the resumes themselves to see if there are any others that need to be considered.

"We're planning to have all of the positions filled by Jan. 11," he said.

That's the date Shelly and Jim will be sworn in during ceremonies at the Navajo Nation fairgrounds.

While no appointments have been made so far, Tome cleared up some rumors that have been floating around the nation's capital during the past couple of weeks.

He said that rumors that Ferlin Clark, the former president of Diné College, has been acting as Shelly's chief of staff are incorrect.

He also said rumors that Sharon Clahchischilliage will not be involved in the new administration are partly true.

Clahchischilliage, the former director of the tribe's Washington office, who ran unsuccessfully for president in 2010, has been one of Shelly's top supporters during the general election and was expected to get a top position in the new administration.

That probably would have still been the case except for the fact that she is now being touted as the top choice by New Mexico's new governor, Susana Martinez, to head the state's Indian affairs office.

Tome said the process of going from one administration to the next is already underway with current tribal officials beginning to move their personal things out of their offices.

Shelly, who is now living in the vice president's quarters in Window Rock, is making plans to move into the president's house.

The transition team has $191,870 to spend on the transition and Tome said $120,000 of this has been set aside for the inauguration and the various events that will be held in connection with it.

The inauguration ball, which will begin at 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 11, is being held at the Howard Johnson Hotel in Gallup with tickets priced at $50 each.

Tome said only 550 tickets will be available since that is how many people the banquet room at the hotel can hold. He said people who want to attend should either go by the hotel or see Fred White at the Division of Natural Resources as soon as possible to purchase them.

He said that the banquet will end about 9:30 p.m. or 10 p.m. since many of those who will be attending will have to get to their tribal jobs on Wednesday.

Besides the inaugural ball, a number of other events are being scheduled to be held in connection with the inauguration, including a song and dance, a powwow and a youth gala, all in Window Rock.

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