Gloves Come Off
Candidates trade verbal jabs at public forum

Navajo Nation presidential candidates listen and take notes while one of the candidates gives his opening statement at the Navajo Nation Presidential Forum on Tuesday night at the Window Rock Athletic Center. [Photo by Matt Hinshaw/Independent]

By John Christian Hopkins
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — Two of the 11 candidates at Tuesday's Navajo Nation Presidential Candidates Forum urged voters to support incumbent Joe Shirley Jr. One was Shirley.

The other, in a surprise announcement, was John Reeves of Upper Fruitland, who also told the more than 400 people in attendance at the Sports Complex that he was withdrawing from the election.

The primary is Aug. 8.

"You guys hearing what you want to hear?" asked Reeves during his opening comments. He said the Nation should focus on the future, on developing the economy so it does not have to depend on federal or state aid.

"My heart is for the Nation and the people," Reeves said. "It is for the people that I remove myself from this race."

Reeves urged voters to support Shirley's re-election. The incumbent is the best person to carry the Nation into the future, Reeves said.

Nine of the candidates disputed that.

Can't we just get along?
Ernest Harry Begay, the first to announce his candidacy in 2006, opened by quoting Shirley from the 2002 campaign, "He said, 'We cannot afford not to work together.' " But now, the men elected to lead the Nation Shirley and Vice President Frank Dayish Jr. can't get along with each other, he noted. Begay praised Dayish for distancing himself from Shirley, and scoffed at Shirley's assertions about winning a dozen leadership awards.

"Awards don't count here," Begay said. He asked where was the progress that Shirley promised the Nation.

"What progress are we talking about? It hasn't come to the people in the unemployment line," Begay said.

Unemployment was 50 percent four years ago and is 70 percent now, said candidate James Henderson Jr.

"Are we better off than we were four years ago?" Henderson asked. "The Nation is in a state of corruption. All of our elected officials only think about their own pocketbooks."

Economic development was the key to the future, said candidate Vern Lee.

"I'd like to bring jobs back, so we can bring people back to the Navajo Nation," Lee said. He said the Nation needs to hire professional Navajos who are held accountable for their job performance.

Disarray
Not only the executive branch, but the legislative and judicial are also in disarray, charged candidate Lynda Lovejoy. Services to the people are being reduced now, but she will put a stop to that, Lovejoy said.

"The only reduction that is going to happen is a reduction in the council," she said.

The current administration has been a dismal failure, said Harrison Todacheene. The government should allow its people to have a better life, he added.

"How much more failure are you going to take? How much more of no progress are you going to take?" asked Todacheene. "How much more corruption are you going to allow?"

But there has been progress, said Shirley. He pointed to the new Desert Rock project and the casino revenue that will soon flow into the Nation's coffers. He urged voters to support him and continue the vision of the future he has started to build.

There is too much red tape and bureaucracy involved in starting new businesses on the reservation, said Wilbur Nelson Jr.

"My platform is to help the Navajo businessman become bigger and better," Nelson said.

The Navajo government currently has too much duplication of services and extravagant spending, Begay said.

"We need to start with fiscal accountability," he said.

Looking forward
Addressing the recent Head Start debacle, Shirley said that the Early Head Start program has reopened and he is hopeful that the regular Head Start will resume by the end of the month. The focus shouldn't be on the problems that led to Head Start's closure, but what steps are taken to correct the problems, Shirley said.

"It does no good to point fingers," Shirley said. "The important thing is to not have it happen again."

"It shouldn't happen again? It shouldn't have happened in the first place," Begay said.

The president needs to have more power, specifically the line item veto, Shirley said. He said the council must leave the Permanent Trust Fund alone so it can grow and help support the Nation.

Begay echoed the same sentiment for the Undesignated, Unreserved Fund. That fund should hold, at minimum, 10 percent of the prior year's budget, Begay said. He said the UUF should be renamed as the budget deficit fund, and be used only for thatand sparingly.

Send prayers, not soldiersAsked about his view of the Iraq War, Calvin Tsosie said, in Navajo, "I am not in accord with it. When we send our babies and children across the big sea, I'm not in agreement."

But Lee urged people to send their prayers to all the soldiers sent to Iraq, and vowed that when he is president of the Navajo Nation he will visit Navajo soldiers in Iraq.

"As president of the Navajo Nation, I will be the people's voice. I will take an active role," promised Lovejoy.

It is not enough to promise to reform the government it needs to be transformed, said Dayish. It needs to be looked at and reevaluated, and changes made to make government more responsive to the needs of the people, he said.

"I only know hard work," Tsosie said. "A long time ago that's how it was. If I was the one (elected), I'd be more conscious, I'd get rid of corruption."

To be a leader, a person must "have a good mind and walk in a good way," Tsosie added.

"We, as Navajos, want honest government," Lee said He said a lot of thought needs to go into overcoming current obstacles and planning for the future.

"We are thinking of those who are not here," Lee said. "We are thinking of the forgotten Navajos who have had a hard tome making a living. I am the one. We can do it, we don't need to depend on the federal government. We don't need to depend on Louis Farrakhan to tell us what to do!"

Farrakhan, a leader of the Nation of Islam visited Shirley and addressed the council's recent summer session.

"On August 8 vote Lynda Lovejoy it's about time we had a women leader," Lovejoy said. She said new, bold leadership is needed, someone who stands before the people with new ideas to offer.

"I know you want something better for your children," Lovejoy said. "I have the experience. I am ready to be your leader."

Todacheene promised to give his all to the Nation if he is elected. "It is my prayer that I work for you," he said.

Children first
The Nation's leaders must always think about the children when making decisions, Dayish said. He said there is a need to combine modern education with the traditional Navajo way so the children can have the best future possible. The people must stand united, he said.

"Every place on the Navjo nation has different problems," Dayish said. "But we are the great Navajo Nation."

"I have a lot of respect for the Navajo Nation on the whole. That is how I think," Shirley said. He said he may have fallen a time or two, but has always gotten up and kept going. A lot has been accomplished over the past four years, and more can be donebut it is a team effort, Shirley said.

"My accomplishments have been the accomplishments of many," Shirley said.

Combat veteran James Henderson Jr. said he had a way to save the nation $500,000 get rid of the seven or eight security guards employed by Shirley.

"He has seven or eight security he is afraid of you!" Henderson said. "Why isn't the president scared of not leaving the people secure?"

It is time for new blood, new leadership, Henderson said.

Power to the people
The answer is not to strengthen the central government in Window Rock, but to give more power to the chapters, said Wilbur Nelson Jr. He said the chapters should all be certified and allowed local governance.

"If not, we will depend on Window Rock forever," Nelson said.

To raise children it takes teamwork, Begay said. That same spirit of teamwork needs to be put into running the government, he added.

"Many issues face the Navajo people, but help is on the way!" Begay promised.

The Navajo Times hosted the 2006 forum; and KTNN AM-660 Radio provided live coverage.

A panel of six Navajos from various backgrounds asked questions on a number of topics related to the Navajo Nation and the Navajo people. The panelists were: Duane Beyal, Navajo Times editor; L.A. Williams, KTNN announcer; Mark Maryboy, Aneth council delegate; Dr. Deborah Dennison, Ganado Unified School District superintendent; Jason Allison, also known as "DJ Abel" entertainer; and Derrick Watchman, vice president of Native American Banking with JPMorgan Chase Bank of Phoenix.

The Navajo Times hosted the forum as a public service for the people and the voters of the Navajo Nation, according to Tom Arviso, CEO of the Navajo Times.

John Christian Hopkins can be reached at 1-505-371-5443, or by email at Hopkins1960@hotmail.com.