There will be Navajo Nation Council NO DEBATE on LEGISLATION 0016-21, PUBLIC ASSISTANCE BAIL OUT FOR TRIBAL ENTERPRISES because when the Council adopted their Agenda, which I posted, the Council Delegates voted to put LEGISLATIONS 0016-21, 0002-21-$4M for Summer Youth Employment, and 0010-21-Confirming Valinda Cook Shirley as NEPA director, under a CONSENT AGENDA, which means the Council votes on ALL three Legislations at once WITHOUT DEBATE!
The Council is currently debating Legislation 0006-21, which reallocates about $9M that President Nez line-item vetoed. I posted Legislation 0006-21 at the end of this post, and Legislation 0016-21, PUBLIC ASSISTANCE For TRIBAL ENTERPRISES mid-way through my post.
APPROVED AGENDA OF THE 24th NAVAJO NATION COUNCIL
SPECIAL SESSION VIA TELECOMMUNICATION
February 12, 2021 – 10:00 AM Navajo Nation Council Chambers
Window Rock, Navajo Nation (AZ)
Call-in Number: (669) 900-6833
Meeting ID: 928 871 7160
Passcode: 86515
PRESIDING: Honorable Seth Damon, Speaker, 24th Navajo Nation Council
- CALL MEETING TO ORDER; ROLL CALL; INVOCATION
- RECOGNIZE GUESTS AND VISITING OFFICIALS TO THE NAVAJO NATION
- REVIEW AND ADOPT THE AGENDA
(m) Hon. Eugene Tso (s) Hon. Edison J. Wauneka (v) 21 – 0 - REPORTS: NONE
- OLD BUSINESS:
A. LEGISLATION 0006-21: An Action Relating to Budget and Finance Committee, Naabik’íyáti’ Committee, and Navajo Nation Council; Amending Council Resolution CN-88-20, the Navajo Nation Fiscal Year 2021 Comprehensive Budget (2/3 Vote)
SPONSOR: Honorable Seth Damon
(m) Honorable Rickie Nez (s) Honorable Jimmy Yellowhair (v)
01/28/2021 – Motion to Table Legislation 0006-21 until the Office of Management and Budget review is completed and a justification memorandum addressing the replenishment of the line-item vetoed Executive Branch programs is provided by the Office of the President and Vice-President. Legislation shall be brought back to the Navajo Nation Council no later than February 12, 2021.; (M) Honorable
Daniel E. Tso; (S) Honorable Otto Tso; (V) 20 in Favor, 03 Opposed (Speaker Pro Tem Henio Not Voting) - NEW BUSINESS:
A. Consent Agenda
LEGISLATION 0002-21: An Act Relating to Health, Education and Human Services, Budget and Finance, Resources and Development, And Naabik’íyáti’ Committees, and Navajo Nation Council; Approving Supplemental Funding from the Unreserved, Undesignated Fund Balance
in the Amount of $4,000,000 for the 110 Navajo Nation Chapter’s Summer Youth Employment Programs; Waiving 12 N.N.C. §§ 820(E), (F), and (J) (2/3 Vote)
SPONSOR: Honorable Eugene Tso
LEGISLATION 0010-21: An Action Relating to the Resources and Development Committee, the Naabik’íyáti’ Committee and the Navajo Nation Council; Confirming the Appointment of Valinda Cook Shirley as Director of the Navajo Nation Environment Protection Agency
SPONSOR: Honorable Kee Allen Begay, Jr.
LEGISLATION 0016-21: An Action Relating to Resources and Development, Budget and Finance, and Naabik’íyáti’ Committees, and Navajo Nation Council; Approving a Supplemental Appropriation from the Unreserved, Undesignated Fund Balance in the Total
Amount of Thirty-Four Million One Hundred Ninety-Three Thousand Five Hundred Fourteen Dollars ($34,193,514) to the Navajo Nation Gaming Enterprise, Navajo Tribal Utility Authority, Navajo Nation Shopping Centers, Inc., Navajo Engineering and Construction
Authority, Navajo Nation Hospitality Enterprise, and Navajo Arts and Crafts Enterprise; Waiving 12 N.N.C. §§ 820 (E), (F), and (J) of the Appropriations Act
SPONSOR: Honorable Jamie Henio
CO-SPONSOR: Honorable Seth Damon
(m) (s) (v) - CLOSE OF SESSION; ANNOUNCEMENTS; ADJOURNMENT
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The Navajo Nation Council Naabik’iyabit Committee voted and supported the Council’s approval of $15 million in “PUBLIC ASSISTANCE” for the Navajo Nation Gaming Enterprise, which is part of Legislation 0016-21, which initially sought Council approval of $34.2 million in “PUBLIC ASSISTANCE” for the Navajo Nation government’s businesses or Tribal Enterprises, which were created to generate Funds to operate the Navajo Government.
The Naabik’iyati made several amendments to the PUBLIC ASSISTANCE FOR ENTERPRISES LEGISLATION before voting to Support Bailing out the Navajo Gaming Enterprise or NGE and the Navajo Nation Shopping Centers Enterprise, which requested $903,541 in PUBLIC ASSISTANCE.
For some unknown and unannounced reason, Navajo Tribal Utility Authority withdrew their $7.8 million PUBLIC ASSISTANCE REQUEST…which Navajo Engineering & Construction Authority or NECA also did. NECA had asked for $7 million in PUBLIC ASSISTANCE. I guess the Navajo Nation Business Priority One designation that the Council gave NECA more than a year ago is not generating enough business for them. When the Council approve the Priority One Business Designation, several Navajo small business people objected.
Navajo Nation Hospitality Enterprise also threw in their request for $1.5 million in PUBLIC ASSISTANCE.
What I find DISTURBING, but is Business as Ususal, is that the Council’s Budget and Finance Committee Chairman Jamie Henio is sponsoring the Bail Out of Tribal Enterprises. The Budget & Finance Committee is the Committee that should be asking for Due Diligence of the PUBLIC ASSISTANCE requests by Tribal Enterprises but there was no Due Diligence. There wasn’t even a Review by the Navajo Nation Investment Committee. The Due Diligence and Financial Review are done to Ensure that the Navajo People’s Money is not being thrown into a Bottomless Bail Out Pit. So what happened, BFC Chairman Jamie Henio?!
Navajo Nation Council Wilson Stewart Jr, who supported PUBLIC ASSISTANCE for Tribal Enterprises, said the Council approved PUBLIC ASSISTANCE (Hardship Assistance Program) for the People and now its time to give that same opportunity to Tribal Enterprises, which provides Jobs to Navajo people. I understand that…But how long CAN the Council FINANCIALLY support Tribal Enterprises SIMPLY because they employ Navajo people. I wish I heard that same Support for Navajo workers when the Council voted to giver PRIORITY ONE to NECA, when the Council lays off Navajo employees annually during their development and adoption of the Navajo Nation operating budget.
There are students, who include Graduate Students, that will be evicted from Housing established by former President Russell Begaye & Vice President Jonathan Nez. The University of New Mexico went into a agreement with the Navajo Nation to provide housing for Navajo students, which was called the the Rainforest Dorm:
Navajo Nation, UNM Rainforest affordable housing agreement set to terminate Published 01/25/21
A long hallway of resident apartments on the 5th floor of the Lobo Rainforest, which currently houses part of the Navajo Nation Living Learning Community.
After July 31, an affordable housing agreement for Navajo students at the University of New Mexico’s Rainforest building will end, leaving 118 residents of the downtown apartment complex looking for alternative — and undoubtedly more expensive — accommodations.
Former Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye signed an agreement on Jan. 3, 2018 that provided housing for Navajo students on the fifth and sixth floors of the Rainforest building at a discounted rate of $945, or $189 a month, per fall and spring semester.
Since the Navajo Nation decided not to renew the agreement, it will end after its originally scheduled end date this summer.
“(The Navajo Nation has) indicated that they are not going to renew that occupancy down there … We would love to continue with the agreement and continue to house that population of students,” Thomas M. Neale, director of real estate at UNM, said. “We were really excited about that prospect at the outset and continue to be so, but for reasons I’m not 100% clear on, they’ve decided to terminate that agreement.”
A source close to the Navajo Nation administration said that since many Navajo students returned home rather than continue living at the Rainforest building during the pandemic, a contract renewal would be cost-prohibitive.
The housing deal, which was struck in 2018 at a cost of $1,457,300 for a period of three years and seven months, included provisions that Navajo students’ $189 rent would go back to the Navajo Nation rather than UNM.
According to residents, the decision not to renew the agreement and thus end the UNM Navajo Nation Living Learning Community (LLC) was announced through an email to residents of the LLC on Dec. 17 of last year. On UNM’s housing website, the Navajo Nation LLC has been removed from the list of the “Living Learning Communities” they offer on campus.
The Daily Lobo reached out to Jared Touchin, the communications director for the Office of the President and Vice President of the Navajo Nation, for more information. However, when asked for clarification on why a renewal was not pursued or what other options these students have, he declined to comment.
Residents of the Navajo Nation LLC were saddened by the announcement of the housing agreement’s termination because of the benefit it brought to Navajo students.
“It was kind of sad at the time,” Jaida Smith, a UNM senior, Navajo student and resident of the Navajo Nation LLC, said. “I know it’s something that a lot of people depend on, and it’s a community where people can gather. But some things end, some people change their minds and it’s just something that kind of just has to happen.”
The inability of some Navajo students to pay for and find affordable housing was an issue that the Navajo Nation had in mind when the LLC first opened in 2018. Now that the LLC is closing its doors, some students worry about where they’ll live now and how they’ll juggle the cost of school with the cost of housing.
“It sucks because I have friends who live here, and they’re going to have to start getting more money to pay for their housing,” Orion Martinez, a junior UNM student and resident of the Navajo Nation LLC, said. “I think it was a really good opportunity for us to be able to not put so much stress on our housing costs. That’s the thing being taken away — so that’s just going to cause a bit of a concern about, if this is all they can afford at the moment, where are they going to go next?”
While discounted housing rates were an important selling point to residents, Smith and Martinez also shared the sentiment that the community aspect of the Navajo Nation LLC was significant as well. Current Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez, who was vice president when the housing agreement was reached, concurred in a statement at the time.
“With the purchase of the Lobo Rainforest Facility, not only will we see costs decrease for our college students’ housing, but we’ll create a sense of community to ultimately increase retention and decrease the college dropout rate,” Nez said in 2018.
Smith said learning about the UNM Navajo community at the Rainforest and their traditions was a central part of her college experience.
“We all identify ourselves as Indigenous people, but it’s just interesting to learn about specific traditions that people have,” Smith said.
The Daily Lobo also reached out to the Dean of Students office and Residence Life and Student Housing management, who also declined to comment and re-directed reporters back to Neale.
According to Neale, there are currently no plans for a new Navajo Nation LLC or another similar housing provision for Navajo Nation students. However, he said that UNM is more than willing to work with the Navajo Nation on future projects.
“Sure, I think we would be open to anything,” Neale said. “We love having the students there, and we think that our housing group provides a great environment for those students and would love to continue to work with the Navajo Nation.”
PROPOSED AGENDA OF THE 24th NAVAJO NATION COUNCIL
SPECIAL SESSION VIA TELECOMMUNICATION February 12, 2021 – 10:00 AM Navajo Nation Council Chambers Window Rock, Navajo Nation (AZ)
Call-in Number: (669) 900-6833
Meeting ID: 928 871 7160
Passcode: 86515
PRESIDING: Honorable Seth Damon, Speaker, 24th Navajo Nation Council
- CALL MEETING TO ORDER; ROLL CALL; INVOCATION
- RECOGNIZE GUESTS AND VISITING OFFICIALS TO THE NAVAJO NATION
- REVIEW AND ADOPT THE AGENDA
(m) (s) (v) - REPORTS: NONE
- OLD BUSINESS:
A. LEGISLATION 0006-21: An Action Relating to Budget and Finance Committee, Naabik’íyáti’ Committee, and Navajo Nation Council; Amending Council Resolution CN-88-20, the Navajo Nation Fiscal Year 2021 Comprehensive Budget (2/3 Vote) SPONSOR: Honorable Seth Damon (m) Honorable Rickie Nez (s) Honorable Jimmy Yellowhair (v)
01/28/2021 – Motion to Table Legislation 0006-21 until the Office of Management and Budget review is completed and a justification
memorandum addressing the replenishment of the line-item vetoed Executive Branch programs is provided by the Office of the President
and Vice-President. Legislation shall be brought back to the Navajo Nation Council no later than February 12, 2021.; (M) Honorable
Daniel E. Tso; (S) Honorable Otto Tso; (V) 20 in Favor, 03 Opposed (Speaker Pro Tem Henio Not Voting - NEW BUSINESS: NONE
- CLOSE OF SESSION; ANNOUNCEMENTS; ADJOURNMENT
THIS AGENDA IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE: The public is advised that the Navajo Nation Council Agenda and the Agendas of the
Standing Committees are not final until adopted by a majority vote of the Navajo Nation Council or the Standing Committee at a Navajo
Nation Council or a Standing Committee meeting pursuant to 2 N.N.C. §§ 163 and 183, Navajo Nation Council Rule of Order No. 7, and
Standing Committee Rule of Order No. 8.
Livestream will be available online at:
VIMEO: www.vimeo.com/navajonationcouncil
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