Nez, chief hearing officer, fired by Shelly
Office of Hearings and Appeals chief hearing officer Richie Nez, glances at Chris Deschene, whom he disqualified on Oct. 9, on Monday at the Navajo Department of Transportation in Tse Bonito, N.M. (Times photo – Donovan Quintero)
WINDOW ROCK
Richie Nez, who has been the chief hearing officer for the Navajo Nation Office of Hearings and Appeals since it was created, was removed from office by Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly this week.
Deswood Tome, an assistant to Shelly, said the action stemmed from the discovery that Nez had not been admitted to a state bar, one of the qualifications required under tribal law for the person holding that position.
Nez had graduated from law school but had never taken any state bar exam.
This information was made public recently in connection with a complaint filed by Myron McLaughlin shortly after the election office announced that Russell Begaye would challenge Joe Shirley Jr. in the upcoming election since the original challenger, Chris Deschene, had been declared ineligible to run because he failed to meet the Navajo-speaking fluency requirement.
McLaughlin claimed that Begaye should also be disqualified because of his actions as a shareholder representative for the Navajo Nation Oil & Gas Company in going to federal court in an effort to overturn an unfavorable decision issued by the Navajo Supreme Court.
This, said McLaughlin, showed disloyalty to the Navajo Nation and one of the requirements to run for president was that a candidate show “unswerving loyalty” to the tribe.
Highway 264,
I-40, WB @ Winslow