Speaker calls for audit of legislative discretionary funds

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Speaker Lawrence Morgan on Tuesday called for an audit of the discretionary funds given out by council delegates and the speaker.

Morgan said he called for the audit in response to the Navajo Times article "Trio received thousands in council aid," which was published on Sept. 10.

But the policies and procedures for the discretionary funds of the delegates and the speaker mandate an annual audit by the auditor general.

The council's Intergovernmental Relations Committee unanimously approved the policies and procedures for the two discretionary funds in February 2007.

The IGR committee consists of the chairpersons of the council's 11 standing committees and is presided over by the speaker.

"To the extent that any findings would be made relative to the internal audit, a corrective action plan would be agreed upon and any corrective actions set forth would be taken," Morgan stated. "This is in accord with the normal processes for internal audits conducted by the Navajo Nation.

"I believe that these steps will be sufficient to determine the existence of any deficiencies in the implementation of the existing legislative branch policies and to consider any amendments to the existing policies, which may be necessary to prevent any abuse in the future," he said in a press release.

On Sept. 10, as part of the council's approval of the 2010 budget, the council replenished its discretionary with more than $3 million, or $25,000 per delegate, and also allocated $50,000 each to the discretionary funds of the speaker and president.

On Sept. 16, Joshua Lavar Butler, spokesman for the speaker's office, said Morgan also started working on a "stronger" internal system of tracking the Social Security numbers of individuals who received assistance from discretionary funds, which would prevent repeated assistance to any one individual.

The policies and procedures for the discretionary funds state that individuals are limited to receiving assistance once a year.

Butler said that Morgan is also being "proactive" by working to amend the policies and procedures that would limit the amount of assistance.

The amendments would have to go before the IGR committee for their approval or disapproval, Butler added.

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Butler said Morgan would not be commenting on the allegations of violations of the policy that limits an individual to assistance once a year, which was reported in the Navajo Times' Sept. 10 article.

According to the discretionary fund records of the delegates and Morgan, 25 disbursements, totaling $15,800, were made to one individual in one year.

Butler said that Morgan would comment on the allegations of misuse of discretionary funds once the audit is completed.

He said that Morgan would also comment after the audit on legislative office advisor Laura Calvin approving requests from her husband, Delegate Leonard Teller (Lukachukai/Tsaile/Wheatfields), for discretionary assistance to their children.

Financial records showed that since 2003, the couple's daughter, Amanda Teller, received a total of $28,025, including $15,800 in 2008. The 2008 financial aid came in the form of 32 checks, ranging in size from $300 to $700.

The couple's other daughter, Andrea Calvin, received $6,250 over a two-year period. Of the 15 checks that she received, eight were from her father. The eight checks totaled to $3,800.

Delegate Teller is the vice chair of the council's Government Services Committee and the chair of the Navajo Housing Authority board.

George Hardeen, spokesperson for President Joe Shirley Jr., said on Tuesday that Shirley would not call for audit of his discretionary funds.

"Because your story alleged misuse of discretionary funds by some legislators, the speaker apparently is responding by asking for an audit," Hardeen stated in a Sept. 15 e-mail.

"As you know, anecdotal stories of such misuse go back years. By contract, there are no similar stories of misuse of discretionary funds by OPVP (Office of the President and Vice President), and, consequently, there (is) no request for a similar audit."

In Shirley's push to reduce the council and establish presidential line-item veto authority, Shirley has repeatedly stated that his two initiatives would reduce "wasteful" spending of the Navajo people's money.

Butler said, "As for the audit of the Office of the President (discretionary fund), I am sure we will see movement towards that soon - after all, the Office of the Speaker will be, it only makes sense to have the other high office audited as well."

He explained that the call for an audit would have to come from the council's Government Services Committee, which has oversight authority over the president's office.

Hardeen said that Shirley was unavailable for an interview this week about his discretionary fund, payments from which Shirley approves or disapproves.

He added that Shirley's chief of staff, Patrick Sandoval, was available for an interview.

On Wednesday, Sandoval confirmed that there were no written policies for the president's discretionary fund.

He noted that it's not "common practice" for Shirley's staff and relatives to receive assistance from the discretionary fund.

Sandoval added that it's Shirley's position that his discretionary funds be allocated to social services.

He recalled that when Shirley first came into office in 2003 that he, as chief of staff, asked the speaker's office about working with the executive office on a system to insure that individuals asking for assistance from the discretionary funds didn't manipulate the program to get financial aid from the president, legislative branch and social services.

But Sandoval said the legislative branch was concerned about sharing financial records with the executive office.

He noted that he could not release the discretionary records of the president's office to the Navajo Times because they contain personal information about individuals.

But Sandoval said that he could ask Shirley if the records could be released if personal information, including the names of individuals, are redacted.

For several years, the Navajo Times has repeatedly asked Shirley for information about his discretionary fund, including policies and procedures.

On Sept. 11, Hardeen finally provided the Navajo Times with a one-page application for discretionary funds and a "request for taxpayer identification number and certification," which the individuals requesting assistance from the president's discretionary fund must fill out.

He added that since he is not involved with the discretionary fund that he does not know anything about it.

According to the one-page application, an individual must provide a name, census number, Social Security number, work phone, home phone, mobile phone, mailing address, "issue of concern," and date. There also are five boxes that the applicant can check.

The five boxes are "hardship, burial, burn-out, educational, and enrichment."

There is also a much larger box for Shirley's signature and disapproval or approval.

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