Shirley focuses on big goals

WINDOW ROCK, April 24, 2008

With more than 30 months left as president, Joe Shirley Jr. said Tuesday he still has some issues to resolve and some changes he wants to make.

Since beginning his second administration in January 2007, Shirley has been settling into a new way of governing, turning over many of the day-to-day operations to his vice president, Ben Shelly, and working instead on policy issues.

But he has stepped in when needed, such as the recent personnel problems in the Division of Public Safety.

In recent weeks, six of the eight lieutenants working for the Navajo Department of Law Enforcement sent Shirley a list of grievances against the division director, Samson Cowboy. Two weeks ago, Cowboy put police chief Jim Benally on administrative leave for "creating discord."

Shirley spoke up for Cowboy at a recent meeting of the council's Public Safety Committee and said the grievances are now being investigated internally by the division. The lieutenants had pleaded for an external investigation, saying it was the only way to assure an unbiased look.

In a Tuesday interview, Shirley said that while he could not go into details on personnel issues, he still supports his division director.

"I don't think he has done anything wrong," Shirley said. "He's doing a humongous job."

Shirley praised Cowboy for providing new resources for the programs within public safety and for recognizing the need of the Navajo people for safer communities.

As for the criticism, Shirley said it comes with the territory.

Another area of controversy that pertains partly to the police department, and to the Division of Community Development, involves the tribe's Internet provider OnSat and its owner, Dave Stevens.

OnSat's contract with the tribe - to provide Internet access and computers to chapters and to the police department - came under criticism following a tribal audit that found the company had over-billed the tribe by hundreds of thousands of dollars. OnSat claims that the tribe owes as much as $2 million for services that have never been paid for.

The federal agency that subsidizes 80 percent of OnSat's bill also has embargoed payments to the company, saying it wants an accounting of the charges.

In addition, some chapters have complained about spotty Internet service and some police officials have reported problems with computer networks used for crime statistics and related police data.

OnSat is closely associated with Shirley because he brought the company in as a tribal contractor, and because OnSat helped Shirley become recognized as a world leader in bringing the Internet to rural areas.

Shirley envisioned the Navajo Nation becoming a worldwide provider of Internet connectivity to indigenous nations, a dream that has so far not happened.

Shirley said he has been looking into the dispute regarding OnSat and plans to make a decision in the near future to get it resolved.

On another key initiative, the proposed Desert Rock Power Plant, Shirley said the tribe is still waiting for the federal government to issue an air permit so the project can go forward.

"It's now been going on four years for the federal government to issue that permit," he said, pointing out that under federal law, the Environmental Protection Agency is supposed to render a permit decision within a year.

Shirley is pushing Desert Rock - despite implacable resistance from some local residents, state leaders and environmental groups - because of job creation and the revenues it would generate in fees, royalties and taxes.

He said he is still hoping that the air quality permit is approved and construction can finally get underway in the coming months.

During his 2006 campaign for re-election, Shirley said efforts were underway on new agreements with energy companies that would bring in hundreds of millions of dollars in new revenue for the tribe during his second administration.

While some of these have been completed, the tribe still has not seen its revenue increase substantially. The losses incurred from closure of the Black Mesa Mine, and the end of mining operations at the McKinley Mine, have not been made up.

Shirley, however, said that things are still in the works.

"It's going to happen but it's a slow process," he said.

The planned casino at Church Rock, N.M. - the tribe's first - is one major source of new money for the tribe. Shirley said that project seems to be on track for an October opening, and a second casino may possibly open by the time he leaves office in January 2011.

Shirley said he can't wait for opening day at the first casino. He plans to be there, quarters in hand, to pull the arm on one of the new slot machines.

And since there is talk that the Navajo slots will be part of the regional network of slot machines that periodically makes million-dollar payoffs, there would be a possibility that Shirley could hit the jackpot with that first quarter.

"Wouldn't that be great," he grinned. "I could retire."

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