HERE AT NAVAJO COUNCIL NAABIKIYATI COMMITTEE AT COUNCIL CHAMBERS IN WINDOW ROCK, ARIZ.
REPORT – NAVAJO NATION OFFICE OF LEGISLATIVE SERVICES INTERNAL AUDIT BY REDW AUDITING FIRM AND ELIZABETH BEGAY, NAVAJO NATION AUDIT GENERAL
REDW AUDITOR CAROL COCHRAN
all staff asked for training on specific requirements on OLS. weekly all staff mtg wud b helpful and to work together. helpful hve standard metgs with other deartments. final recommendation have strategic planning with all team members.
REDW AUDITOR HALIE GARCIA and i cud address concerns and questions.
goal of this engagement is assiSt Ofic of legislative services to improve operations and why ID deficiences and recommendation so Platero needs to develop corrective action plan.
DELEGATE EDMUND YAZZIE
when talk about financial needs and then pay high dollars for audit. you have dept heads here and matter of getting together and ironing out. so ask speaker and your office and attorney office and steno that you hear from delegates themselves on needs. however audit is alrady done and have to make corrections.
DELEGAGTE WALTER PHELPS
apreciate review and have independent review and reviewers provide solid recommendatins on whether efficiencies there or ned to improve. these recommendations can be looked at closely by speaker. but with everything there is a cost so goes back to cost. while at the same, efficient use of labor and human resources is basically administration and management decisions. don’t know if from our level, delegates, we have to micromanage. only question is i know the focus is committee reports and journals, timelines, basically reflicting on work being done daily from committee mtg to committee mtg. but in my mind with enhancing system with technology which can help us. we have multiple services such as children, elders, so is there recommendatin to enhance constistuents’ services that is electronic.
DELEGATE LEONARD TSOSIE
It seems that when delegates make recommendations, no one listens. but when auditors speak, everyone listens. you haven’t mentioned data base with forms and why looking to auditors and sure audited other legislative bodies and hoped in your recommendation u wud recommend use of data base to reduce errors. when put in one code, all monotonous numbers pop up. other thing too. Electronic assistance to access committee information, news reports, tracking of legisaltion to show whether tabled, etc. Also absent is and after sampled 20 legislation. And here we got on ride that yes means no and thot that wud be in your report. And i don’t think we need to put into Title 2. we put into statutes but we shud put in rules. interesting that there was no review of which committee has worst track record of starting meetings. and shud we move from hard copies of journal to digital copies. i kow this is not audit of council but there is insufficient analysis of legislation. departments and all division directors – hint, hint President Begaye – are not apprising council of historical background of legislation. on legislation there is too much attachment of irrelevant documents, such as delegation of authority. you’re chopping more trees on Chuska Mts. same with chief legislative counsel saying legislation is “legally sufficient.”
DELEGATE NELSON BEGAY
i really believe audits are necessary. to me positive to have audits, part of business and really glad had audit and improves what we do as delegates. But what is missing is a library to do research on background of legislation. Delegate Tsosie touched on with tracking of legislation. And i have issue with transcribing from navajo to english. and we are killing more trees with hardcopy. and if i want sometime from past, it’s stored somewhere. i agree a lot with Mr. Tsosie except for his jokes.
AUDITOR GENERAL BEGAY
issues not covered in audit are in body of report. Platero is developing corrective action plan and we are mandated to review his CAP and so we will look for all your recommendations.
the delegates’ concerns such public information on electronic site, legislative tracking, we have templates available, and doing away with hardcopy and replace with electronic process is a great idea and we do have recommendations.
we also abasolutely agree with you on is modifications to be made is services for delegates. our focus was making system mre efficient for needs of delegate such as tracking legislation and sharing of information electronically. other area heard mentioned is pre-work done on legislation.
VOTE ON ACCEPTING NAVAJO NATION OFFICE OF LEGISLATIVE SERVICES INTERNAL AUDIT REPORT
SPEAKER LORENZO BATES
we need your support and less paper work which requires delegates to be more efficient with laptops. there will be roll out on June 9. I am asking for your assistance in making this an effective system. be patient with us. it’s new and will require all of our participation.
DELEGATE LEONARD TSOSIE
compilation of meetings and sign in sheets for reconciling tribal credit card but others are struggling with it. we have pdf files. and when see travel packets, its very thick. and do with office of controller. i see these poor delegates spending hours on tribal credit card reports just to justify 10 mile trip.
SPEAKER LORENZO BATES
we can develop system but it needs to comply with office of contrller requirements.
DELEGATE NELSON BEGAYE
we are suppose to start meetings at 10 a.m. but we started about 11 a.m. And we have a lot of work on our agenda and then delegates begin to leave. so how do we control that. and then we meet past 5 pm and do we pay overtime for our staff which is because of a lack of responsiblity by us, the delegates.
SPEAKER BATES
on that note, one concern and legal is when go to two committee membership vote, there is nothing that indicates that we comply with that. the way Title 2 indicates is that we have quorum, 13 on floor but with committee representation, we will ask you to vote electroncially and it will be recorded. and if nine then that can be seen immediately.
DELEGATE ALTON SHEPHERD
as Naabikiyati Committee developed, there were processes to build in accountability. over the years we have delegates arrive tail end and receive entire $40 compensation. so what talking about would improve our work as delegates and could be voted on by council so law. we asked government reform committee to take our recommendations back to their committees. we will have government reform committee at 7:30 am on May 19.
DELEGATE TOM T. CHEE
we need to turn audit cost into investment to improve our processes here.
DELEGATE BEN BENNETT
I agree with Mr. chee and look at officials that only show up at chapter mtgs and planning mtgs and with good chapter coordinators, those activities can be addressed by chapter coordinators.
and looking at Naabikiyati Committee, there are 17 items and some of those items didn’t even get committee review and if did and if voted down, legislation still moved on.
DELEGATE OTTO TSO
I appreciate your audit. and i whole heartedly support the tracking of legislation and that needs to be in corrective action plan.
VOTE ON ACCEPTING INTERNAL AUDIT OF LEGISLATIVE SERVICES OFFICE BY REDW CPAs/Business & Financial Auditing of Albuquerque, N.M. – 15 in favor, 1 opposed
