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Delegates: Hands off fund
By John Christian Hopkins
Diné Bureau
WINDOW ROCK — Budget and Finance Committee Chairman
Bennie Shelly and Vice Chairman Harold Wauneka are upset by the Navajo
Nation Council's "raid" on the Unreserved, Undesignated Fund
during the recent winter session.
In a joint statement, they warned of the negative impact looming because
council delegates voted to take $7.5 million from the UUF. In a special
session Feb. 3, council tabled legislation and added amendments that would
have stripped most of the remaining $3.1 million from the fund.
Shelly and Wauneka decried the practice of "piggybacking" amendments
on other bills. The $7.5 million delegates allocated on Jan. 25 came on
legislation that sought $150,000 for the Christian Rehoboth School.
The aborted spending spree of Feb. 2 was attached to a bill to give $1.5
million to the Department of Justice.
Delegates had refrained touching the UUF because of uncertainty of the
amount it held. The exact amount could not be determined until division
and department budgets were closed out for the fiscal year.
However, as the winter session opened, controller Mark Grant made the
council aware that the fund held $10.6 million.
In addition to Shelly and Wauneka, other B & F members to vote against
the Jan. 25 spending were Jerry Bodie, Danny Simpson and Raymond Maxx.
The finance board thanked the other delegates who opposed the spending:
Pete Ken Atcitty, LoRenzo Bates, Katherine Benally, Lorenzo Curley, Francis
Redhouse, Roscoe Smith and LaVern Wagner.
"These council delegates showed tenacity, true leadership, fiscal
awareness and fiscal responsibility as they argued and voted against that
raid ... " the joint statement said.
The same legislation for Rehoboth School with the added spending amendments
had failed the day before by a 48-24, with 16 delegates not voting. The
bill needed 2/3rds, or 59 votes, to pass.
Shelly and Wauneka charged that delegates ignored the legal process that
is in place for accessing money from the UUF. Delegates also allocated
the money, retroactive to Oct. 1, based on a 12-month budget, though only
eight months remain in Fiscal Year 2006, the statement said.
With the Navajo Nation facing a $14 million deficit in 2007, because of
mine closings, elected leaders owe it to the people to be more fiscally
prudent, the Budget and Finance members said.
"Furthermore, the practice of 'waiving' Navajo Nation laws should
be considered seriously, as it circumvents the intended practice when
enacted to protect the interests of the Din people," Shelly and Wauneka
said.
B & F committee members urge President Joe Shirley to veto the winter
session's spending spree.
— John Christian Hopkins can be reached at 1-505-371-5443,
or by email at Hopkins1960@hotmail.com.
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Monday
February 6, 2006
Selected Stories:
Excop files suit against city
Delegates: Hands off fund
School bond election Tuesday
Ready to tie the knot?; Judge offers
Valentine's Day weddings
Deaths
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