School bond passes
Money will upgrade buildings
Staff Report
GALLUP — Voters approved a $10 million general obligation bond
and chose to continue a two-mill levy for Gallup-McKinley County Schools
Tuesday. Only 8 percent of all registered voters cast their ballots.
The two-mill levy and the bond will provide money to repair and maintain
school buildings and to upgrade schools for technological improvements,
such as Internet connection.
Taxpayers have already been paying the two-mill levy,
so this vote ensured its continuation. No new taxes will be passed
to pay for the bond.
County and city residents, however, showed differences in their votes.
City residents must pay property taxes, while those on the reservation
do not.
Tuesday's election results are:
BOND ISSUE
McKinley County 1,221 for; 165 against
City of Gallup 371 for; 277 against
TWO-MILL LEVY
McKinley County 1,094 for; 236 against
City of Gallup 319 for; 312 against
Only 2,257 voters 1,409 county, 666 city and 182 absentee-ballot participated
out of 26,179 registered voters.
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BIA increase pleases Begaye
Bill Donovan
Diné Bureau
GALLUP — The decision by President Clinton to ask
for $331.9 million more for the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs has
drawn kudos from Navajo Nation President Kelsey Begaye.
Begaye, who is in Washington, D.C., this week meeting with congressional
and BIA officials on a number of tribal issues, said he was pleased
to learn that three reservation area schools have been earmarked for
construction funds.
"I am glad that these schools Tuba City Boarding
School, Baca Consolidated Community School and Wingate Elementary
School have been slated for funding," Begaye said. "Our
children cannot be learning in dilapidated schools. How can they learn
about cutting-edge technology like the Internet in unsafe schools?"
Clinton is asking for $2.2 billion to operate the BIA
for FY2001, a budget that federal officials say is a "step in
the right direction" toward alleviating some of the problems
that now plague Indian Country.
"This budget is a good step forward," said
Kevin Gover, assistant secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs,
who pointed out the federal government has ignored the needs of American
Indians in the past.
"That neglect has created problems that are difficult to fix,"
he said. "Even this budget is dwarfed by the great needs in Indian
Country, but it is an important and positive step in the right direction."
It was almost impossible Tuesday to find a negative
remark by anyone in Indian Country about the current efforts to increase
funding for federal Indian programs.
Lester Tsosie, director of the tribe's Office of Management and Budget,
accompanied Begaye to Washington, D.C., and looked with favor upon
Clinton's proposal for increasing funding, including the extra $18.9
million being sought for law enforcement efforts nationwide.
"As you might expect, the Navajo Nation requires funding to address
crucial law enforcement areas," he said.
Gover agreed that these extra funds are vital to Indian Country.
"Since I have been here, we have buried five police officers
who were killed in the line of duty," he said. "All of these
officers were on patrol alone, and I believe their deaths could have
been prevented if we had enough resources to provide two cops for
every reservation patrol car or at least backup within a reasonable
distance for every cop on the reservation."
The closest thing to a negative remark at least from the Navajos came
from Begaye when he talked about Clinton's asking for $60.5 million
more next year for the $700 million Tribal Priority Allocation Program.
These are funds that tribes can use to meet priority needs within
their own reservations.
But Begaye said the Navajos continue to oppose a federal policy that
divides these funds by a formula that does not take into account the
size of the reservation or the size of the tribe's membership.
Some highlights of Clinton's proposal:
He is requesting $300.5 million for BIA school construction, the largest
amount ever requested to build schools in Indian Country. Besides
the Navajo schools, construction funds are also being requested for
the Second Mesa Day School on the Hopi Reservation and the Zia Day
School in Zuni.
Clinton's budget is also requesting another $103.4 million to address
critical health and safety concerns in existing education facilities.
Clinton wants to spend more money some $35.1 million to enable the
BIA to better manage the trust funds of various Indian tribes, including
the Navajo. The Interior Department is being sued by a number of Indian
tribes that claim the federal government in the past lost billions
of dollars of their money. The increase will result in next year's
funding shooting up to $107.6 million.
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County plans to audit past jail managers
Zarana Sanghani
Staff Writer
GALLUP — McKinley County will audit Correctional Services Corp.
to check whether it billed the county for housing the correct number
of inmates at the McKinley County Adult Detention Center.
CSC managed the county jail from June 1997 to January 2000. Management
and Training Corp. replaced CSC last month. The managing company charges
the county for every county inmate it houses.
A misunderstanding between CSC and MTC prompted the county commissioners
to vote for the audit at Tuesday's meeting. MTC had miscounted the
number of inmates in the jail and reported fewer prisoners than CSC
last reported.
MTC's inexperience with the system resulted in the lower count. Though
that mistake was corrected, Commissioner Harry Mendoza said the incident
made him realize CSC could have inflated the number of county prisoners
during the past two years and charged the county for inmates who did
not exist.
"At this point, I just don't trust them,"
Mendoza said of CSC.
Judie Krauklis, the county director for finance, said the confusion
between MTC and CSC did not warrant suspicion, but an audit of CSC
would be good business practice.
The audit will check random bills to make sure the number of inmates
the county was charged for was the actual number CSC managed, Krauklis
said.
The county will notify CSC's bond company of the audit, said Douglas
Decker, county general counsel. If county officials find CSC overcharged
them, the county will make the claim on CSC's bond.
Right now, the county owes CSC approximately $230,000 for past services.
Of that, the county will hold $75,000 to pay for repairs, equipment
replacement and other things CSC should have completed before leaving
but did not.
The $75,000 will also go to companies that provided supplies to CSC,
but did not receive payment.
Decker said he anticipates CSC will argue the damage done to the facility
was part of normal wear and tear.
County commissioners also voted to give a 2 percent pay raise to all
160 county employees beginning this month.
Since 1990, the county has given an aggregate 15 percent raise. This
means the raises given to various employees in several increments
over 10 years adds up to 15 percent.
Meanwhile, the consumer price index rose 26.6 percent in those 10
years. The consumer price index shows how prices for certain products
increase over the years.
The pay raise will cost about $60,000 from now until July and $140,000
from July 2000 to July 2001.
Earlier in the meeting, Monique Bond, who works with the county's
health programs, proposed a change to the County Health Care Provider
Agreements. The agreement allows indigent county residents to ask
the county to pay for their health care needs. Bond said the program
is growing so fast, the contract needs to change to accommodate clients.
The county will ask doctors seeing patients in this program to prescribe
drugs from a formulary list. The list includes hundreds of drugs that
have been tested and proved and are now inexpensive compared to many
new medicines.
Bond said doctors will not be required to deny patients prescriptions
to drugs they need, but if patients need medicines not on the list,
they must purchase the medicine themselves.
The purpose is to provide doctors with a list of drugs
that serve the patient while saving the county money, Bond said.
Another amendment to the agreement will stop people from charging
the county for receiving the same treatment at two different clinics,
Bond said.
Also, the county will add $60,000 to the program with
Rehoboth McKinley Christian Hospital to assist more patients.
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Tribal panels: Find money for projects
Jim Maniaci
Diné Bureau
WINDOW ROCK — Two committees of the Navajo Nation Council on
Tuesday directed tribal employees to find the $250,000 needed to get
projects in McKinley and San Juan counties back on track.
The $250,000 is the "up front" funds needed by the tribe
to take advantage of four New Mexico grants that have been placed
in jeopardy because of tribal funding problems.
Currently, to get reimbursement from New Mexico, the tribe must pay
the bills first and then submit the receipts for reimbursement, so
some "up front" funds are needed to get the program staff
and expenses paid until the state money starts coming in...
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Cibola men indicted for hitting cops
Tom Purdom
Staff Writer
GRANTS — The 13th Judicial District grand jury
here has indicted two Cibola County men for allegedly hitting and
assaulting law enforcement officers.
In both cases, alcohol was allegedly involved.
The first case involved 20-year-old Desmond Chavez,
618 E. Stephens, Grants. On Nov. 15, Chavez was the driver of a vehicle
reportedly involved in an accident with another car...
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Indictments
Laguna men charged in death of Acoma man
Staff Report
ALBUQUERQUE — A federal grand jury in Albuquerque has returned
indictments against Roberto Manuelito, 20, Brandon Cherosposy, 20,
and David Sarracino, 19, all of Laguna Pueblo. Each has been charged
with the voluntary manslaughter of 40-year-old Raynard Martinez of
Acoma Pueblo, on Oct. 30.
The alleged offense occurred at the Pueblo of Laguna, but the U.S.
Attorney's Office gave no additional details concerning the killing.
The maximum penalty for voluntary manslaughter is 10 years imprisonment
and a $250,000 fine.
In addition, Leo G. Cayaditto, 72, of Cuba has been charged with four
counts of aggravated sexual abuse of three children. The alleged offenses
occurred between July 1, 1998, and Nov. 21, 1998, on Navajo Tribal
Trust land...
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Kayenta Township is under fire
Land users dispute new boundaries
Nancy Watson
Diné Bureau
KAYENTA, Ariz. — The Kayenta Township this week continued to
defend itself in a boundary dispute with the local grazing committee.
The dispute centers around the development of a 240-acre subdivision
within the Kayenta Township that has been under fire since November.
The District 8 Grazing Committee has requested work on the subdivision
to cease, pending a review of the boundary lines by the tribe's Resources
Committee...
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N.M. Legislature
Lawmakers told to act on school funding issue
Walter Howerton Jr.
Santa Fe Bureau
SANTA FE — The judge handling the suit by the three western New
Mexico school districts that are seeking a greater share of capital
outlay funding to construct and remodel public schools has expressed
a keen interest in efforts by the Legislature to deal with the problem.
In fact, he was not above subtly cautioning that if
the Legislature fails to act, the consequences could be dire.
"This is a serious matter which must have immediate attention,"
warned McKinley County District Judge Joseph L. Rich. "As the
parties are aware, the Court has multiple alternative options, but
is hopeful none will be necessary..."
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Impact aid gets attention in state
Walter Howerton Jr.
Santa Fe Bureau
SANTA FE — There is one thing that can be said for the problems
created by lawsuits concerning public school capital outlay funding
and impact aid: They now have the attention of lawmakers in Santa
Fe.
Impact aid is federal dollars given to school districts that have
significant amounts of nontaxable federal or Indian land within their
borders. Capital outlay funding pays for school construction and remodeling.
"This issue has consistently been a front-page issue," said
Stephen W. Kennedy, a lobbyist for the Gallup-McKinley schools. He
declared it a permanent blip on the Legislature's radar screen this
session...
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City: Who has control over liquor?
Tanya Brazil
Staff Writer
GALLUP — The Gallup City Council has delayed talks
on a resolution in which the city would abstain from taking action
on liquor licenses.
Mayor John Pena, who submitted the proposal, was in Santa Fe along
with City Manager David Ruiz attending to legislative matters Tuesday,
so council members opted to hold off on discussions until the mayor
is present.
In the resolution, the city requests a clear definition of its authority
over liquor licenses from the state of New Mexico's regulation and
licensing department. Until the city receives answers from the state,
the proposal calls for the city to cease voting on liquor licenses...
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