BIA tells McKinley: Pay for road access
Zarana Sanghani
Staff Writer
GALLUP — Before any paving or grading can be done on roads owned
by the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs in McKinley County, the county
will have to pay for the right of way.
That's the word which county road officials received recently from
the BIA, according to statements made Tuesday at the McKinley County
Commission meeting.
Since paving roads in the county takes more than a year and funds
are already spread thin, any extra fees will make it even harder to
improve those county roads, county officials said. The BIA is asking
the county to pay the BIA for the use of land for roads under its
jurisdiction, said Diane Willatto, who works to secure rights of way
for the county Roads Department.
To work on any road, the county must first attain a right of way or
proof of authority over the road by showing it is within the county's
jurisdiction, said David Acosta, director of the Roads Department.
"The BIA is saying if they give up the right of way, they want
money for the right of way," Willatto said.
Currently, the Roads Department is attempting to secure rights of
way on 12 roads, many of which go through the BIA allotment land,
she said.
BIA rules and regulations state that land used for roads must be appraised
and that the appraised value must be paid to the BIA by the group
developing the road. The BIA would then give a portion of that money
to the individuals allotted the land by the federal government.
The BIA charges utility companies that must use the allotted land.
Until now, however, the BIA has not asked the Roads Department for
money, Willatto said.
The county commissioners said they believed the BIA's demands may
hurt the communities on that land rather than help them.
"The county does not go out there and build roads
without the permission of the community," Commissioner Ben Shelly
said. "The wish of the people there needs to be recognized."
The BIA's regulations "do not say BIA has complete authority
over allotted land it's the people who live there that can decide
they want the road," he added.
Doug Decker, general counsel for the county, and Willatto said they
sent a letter to the BIA saying that charging the county for providing
amenities the people need may be counterproductive.
Willatto said BIA officials were offended by the letter. Commissioner
Harry Mendoza responded he was offended by the BIA's request for money
for the county's services.
Shelly seemed to end the discussion by voicing what many people at
the meeting were saying that the county will not pay to be able to
provide better roads to any community.
After attaining the right of way, the county must conduct archaeological
and environmental surveys to make sure the natural conditions or Native
American sites will not be damaged. Gaining approval from the state
to begin road improvements can take as long as five years, Acosta
said.
Once this is accomplished, the county waits to receive funds from
the state, which the county will match in part with its own money.
Every year, the county sends its list of roads to be improved to state
officials who determine how much money will be given. The county matches
one-third of that amount.
The funds are limited, and so are the roads that get attention. To
level a road and lay gravel costs $85,000 per mile, Acosta said. If
the county hired contractors, it would cost $150,000 per mile, he
added.
Including the state and county contribution, the Roads Department
received about $580,000 last year, 45 percent of which was used for
school bus routes.
Federal and matching county funds for school bus routes last year
was approximately $290,000.
Of the 600 miles of road in McKinley County, the county has attained
right of way for 150 miles and has paved 30 of those miles, the rest
are topped with gravel, Acosta said.
The department decides which roads to work on by considering traffic
on the road, how much improvement is needed and whether the road is
used by school buses.
Although over the past seven years funding has diminished, Acosta
said he expects roughly the same money the county collected last year,
$870,000, for this year.
The county commissioners approved Acosta's recommendation to work
on Chee Dodge, Blue Well, Bread Springs and Rincon Marquez roads and
roads in the Rock Springs area with 2000-2001 funds.
Also at the meeting, David Baltzer, president of Rehoboth McKinley
Christian Health Clinic, presented information about hospital renovations
for the year 2000.
Nine beds will be added to the third floor, giving a total of 40 hospital
beds. Those beds will replace administrative offices that will move
to the second floor. The renovations will cost $2.5 million.
Ten skylights will be installed on the third floor, which Baltzer
said will not only be aesthetic, but can provide therapeutic sunshine
for patients. Also, a new computer system will help locate nurses
by tracing them through their nurses' badges.
The changes will include an upgrade of the heating and cooling system
in patient rooms, Baltzer added.
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Dispute over Navajo judge's leave flares
up
Bill Donovan
Diné Bureau
GALLUP — Navajo Chief Justice Robert Yazzie has given up on ever
seeing Wayne Cadman return to Supreme Court duties.
Saying that Cadman's indefinite leave of absence is "intolerable,"
Yazzie has sent him a letter telling him that as of 5 p.m. Feb. 11,
he will no longer be paid by the tribe.
But Cadman, who calls Yazzie's actions "malicious," has
fired his own letter to the tribe's Judiciary Committee, demanding
the committee order Yazzie to rescind this action.
Cadman, one of two associate justices on the Supreme Court, has been
on sick leave since last March under doctor's orders not to return
to work because of a number of illnesses, including diabetes, that
have been labeled by Cadman as life threatening.
The dispute between Yazzie and Cadman, however, goes back to August
1998 when Cadman was ordered to come back to work after taking a paid
leave of absence to attend law school. His pay was stopped at that
time, but it was reinstated when he dropped out of law school, returned
to work and agreed to continue working for the rest of the fiscal
year.
"I have repeatedly indicated that leave lasting over an indefinite
period is intolerable," Yazzie wrote to Cadman on Jan. 13. "If
we, as judges, accrued leave as other (tribal) employees do, your
sick leave would have expired long ago, along with any accrued annual
leave and you would be on leave without pay."
Yazzie said he had written Cadman on Nov. 4 asking for an assessment
from his doctor on when Cadman would be able to return to work and
a progress report on his reported plans to seek a permanent medical
disability from the Judiciary Committee.
Since he has failed to do either, Yazzie said, the "day has come"
to take action.
"I have no clear indication regarding your medical condition,
although your physician simply tells me that you are not cleared for
work," Yazzie said. "It is both lawful and reasonable for
me to require that you address your continued absence and recognize
that the indefiniteness of your sick leave is intolerable because
you are a public servant."
During the past 10 months when Cadman has been on sick leave, the
supreme court has continued to function, with Yazzie appointing retired
or sitting judges to hear cases as the third judge, judicial officials
said.
Cadman, in a memo Monday to the tribe's Judiciary Committee, said
his doctors and attorneys are working on a request for medical disability
retirement.
"One important fact that this committee should understand is
that my illness has been stress induced," he wrote.
Cadman said he had hand-delivered a proposed resolution for a medical
disability retirement and supporting documents to Yazzie's office
Friday. At that time, he was given the memo announcing that his pay
would be terminated on Feb. 11.
Cadman stated the memo to the committee was written to ask committee
members not to get involved in Yazzie's "fraudulent and malicious
activities."
"First, I cannot be terminated from my work nor forced to retire
because of my disability," he said, since federal law prohibits
such actions.
He also pointed out that the tribe's auditor general
discovered the Judicial Branch has no formal leave policy in place
for judges. "Thus, (Yazzie) has no legal basis for suspending
my sick leave pay."
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Non-Navajo lawyer defended
Jim Maniaci
Diné Bureau
WINDOW ROCK — Speaker of the Navajo Nation Council Edward T.
Begay defended the continuing appointment of Steve Boos, a non-Navajo,
on Tuesday as the council's chief legislative counsel.
The question concerning Boos, who has held the position for the past
few years, came up during Begay's quarterly report to the council.
One of the delegates, Wallace Charley, wanted to know why Boo's position
had not been advertised so a qualified Navajo eventually could be
hired.
Answering in Navajo, Begay explained that Navajo lawyers on the staff
told him they didn't want the job because it was too political and
subject to constant criticism. Because of that, Begay said, he left
the situation as it was.
Charley began his challenge by pointing out Begay has surrounded himself
with young and talented Navajo staff members, and he likes that. Since
the speaker supports preservation of Navajo culture, the Shiprock
Chapter delegate said, he should follow the council directive given
a year ago to advertise the top legal post in the Legislative Branch.
Charley told the speaker he hoped he wouldn't have to repeat his question
next year.
Afterward, Charley said that he was not satisfied with the speaker's
answer and that he supports the Navajo preference law. The law gives
priority to hiring a full-blooded Navajo, then a partial-blooded Navajo,
then spouses of either, then other Indians and only then non-Indians.
The delegate said he believes there is a qualified Navajo out there,
somewhere, who could be groomed to take over from Boos.
Begay touched upon local governance at many points in his 22-page
report.
He said he hopes that by Sept. 30 some 36 chapters will be certified
to conduct their own affairs under the Local Governance Act. Currently
only one chapter, Shonto, has received its certification.
A total of 1,302 Navajos received $209,919 in emergency financial
aid during October, November and December, Begay said.
Most of the aid came from council delegates' accounts. In the Chinle
Agency, 130 people received $19,791; in the Fort Defiance Agency,
416 people received $59,573; in the Eastern Agency, 218 people were
given $38,255; in the Northern Agency, 207 people got $33,693; and
in the Western Agency, 141 people received $23,525.
Help for more housing may be on the way soon, Begay said. U.S. and
tribal lawyers are about to finish an agreement on a program to guarantee
100 percent of loans from private companies for mortgages on the reservation.
The Section 184 program "has been the most successful mortgage
program nationwide throughout Indian Country. ... Many private lenders
are anxious to make mortgage loans on the Navajo Reservation using
this program," the speaker added.
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List of Navajo projects
Walter Howerton Jr.
Santa Fe Bureau
SANTA FE — The following is a list of some of the capital outlay
projects involving the Navajo Nation on which none of the appropriated
money has been spent.
Sen. Leonard Tsosie, D-Bernalillo, Los Alamos, McKinley, Rio Arriba
and Sandoval counties, said he believed the state could be in error
on some of the projects and that some might have been completed. However,
capital outlay analyst Linda Kehoe said the list was accurate when
it was released three weeks ago.
The list shows a total of $17,381,959 in capital outlay funds for
McKinley County, the vast majority of those in uncompleted Navajo
Projects for the years 1995-1999. There are a large number of additional
projects in San Juan County to bring the total to more than $20 million...
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Manager at Milan takes new post
Tom Purdom
Staff Writer
MILAN — After almost three years as village manager, 52-year-old
Joe Murrietta is leaving Milan on March 17 to become the assistant
director of the Northwest New Mexico Solid Waste Authority near Thoreau.
He announced his departure during a recent village board
of trustees meeting.
Murrietta was born and raised in Grants. Except for college and the
military, he has spent his entire life in the area...
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Tribe's desire for cut stalls state projects
Editor's Note: This is the last of two stories concerning the
Navajo Nation and New Mexico capital outlay funding.
Walter Howerton Jr.Santa Fe BureauSANTA FE Every session of the New
Mexico Legislature, Navajo state lawmakers submit requests for the
money that hits closest to home.
Now these lawmakers find themselves at odds with tribal officials
because of a tribal decision to demand a 15.2 percent cut for administrative
costs and to freeze spending of state money until the issue is resolved...
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Ex-miners at P&M get day in court
Workers claim discrimination
S.J. Ludescher
Staff Writer
WINDOW ROCK — Nearly 100 former employees of the Pittsburgh and
Midway Coal Mining Co., who said they were given the option of early
retirement from the company in 1996 or resignation, will have their
day in Navajo Nation District Court on Feb. 14.
The miners filed a class-action lawsuit against the company in September,
alleging that P&M terminated older, experienced employees who
earned higher pay and replaced them with younger, less experienced
employees who could be paid lower wages.
According to the complaint, P&M started decreasing the number
of hours for employees in 1996, citing the decline in the demand for
coal as the reason. The company allegedly told employees it anticipated
closing the McKinley mine in 1998...
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2 hurt in head-on collision
Jim Maniaci
Diné Bureau
KAYENTA — A woman tried to avoid an allegedly drunken driver
on a hill near Kayenta Saturday night, but the two had a head-on collision,
and the woman had to be flown to the Flagstaff hospital, Navajo police
said Tuesday.
In an attempt to avoid the collision, the victim, Sylvia A. Wilson,
41, of Chinle, who was headed uphill, pulled over to her right next
to a guardrail and stopped her vehicle, Navajo police said.
Officers said Edison Begay, 31, of Vanderwagen, still hit her vehicle
while he was headed downhill...
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Suspicious Tohatchi fire
TOHATCHI — A suspicious fire leveled the concession stand and
press box at the Tohatchi High School football field late Saturday,
according to the Crownpoint Police District report.
No estimate of damages was available.
The case was turned over to the Navajo Department of Criminal Investigations
because the origin of the fire was unknown. The gas was shut off and
police said it was unlikely the blaze was caused by an electrical
wiring short...
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Gallup robber nets wallet with $2
Staff Report
GALLUP — A Gallup man was arrested Monday after
a male victim reported that someone assaulted him and stole his wallet
containing $2 behind the Pine Tree Lodge.
The victim told police he was robbed by a large man wearing a red
and black flannel coat who hit him on the back of the head and pushed
him onto the ground.
Police arrested David Nelson, 52, at the Log Cabin Lodge, where they
found the victim's wallet, as well as the coat the suspect allegedly
had been wearing during the robbery...
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