Life goes on, despite suspension

The mood around Window Rock was one of stunned surprise after the Navajo Nation Council voted to put President Joe Shirley Jr. on leave Monday afternoon.

But while the area around the council chambers was barricaded by tribal police and rangers, along with a couple of units from the Apache County Sheriff's Department, there was no hint of the passions surrounding the 1989 removal of Peter MacDonald Sr. - the last time the council voted to suspend a tribal president.

No group of angry partisans marched to take over the government. No shots were fired. No brickbats were hurled.

Instead, aides to the president met to determine what effect, if any, the suspension would have on day-to-day operations of the tribal government.

It turns out that it likely will have little, if any, affect.

While law enforcement agencies were worried about the reaction of Shirley supporters - to the point where a police sharpshooter was placed on the hills overlooking the tribal capitol - everyone stayed calm.

News of the council action became a Twitter sensation in the minutes after the vote, with many comments calling it another reason to reduce the council - as Shirley has proposed in a ballot initiative slated to go before voters Dec. 15.

Inside the president's office, several division directors met with Pat Sandoval, Shirley's chief of staff, to figure out how the action would affect their operations.

Shirley was out of town, according to Sandoval.

Vice President Ben Shelly, who's already been handling a good deal of the responsibilities of a chief executive as he prepares to run for president in 2010, attended the council session where Shirley was put on leave.

On Monday afternoon, Sandoval sat down with a reporter from the Navajo Times to talk about the day's events.

First, he explained that it was "business as usual" and that the tribe would continue functioning. He said the presence of so many police vehicles in the area that afternoon might be an "overreaction."

The feeling among executive branch topsiders is that Shirley will ultimately be vindicated and return, he said.

But since Shelly and Shirley worked closely on almost everything that happened in the tribe, the vice president can easily fill in during Shirley's absence.

Sandoval said he was still unclear about the actual allegations against Shirley, since no one in the president's office has seen the investigation report that the council cited in putting Shirley on leave.

On Tuesday morning, Shelly held a long meeting with the president's office staff. On Wednesday he met with staff in the president's office for more than two hours during which he reportedly stressed the need to keep the tribe functioning as usual.

Clinton Jim, one of Shirley's staff assistants, said after the meeting that no changes have been made and the office will operate as if the president is on vacation.

Shelly will perform the duties of both offices, Jim said.

Shirley, meanwhile, will continue to receive a paycheck while on leave, and likely will continue to meet with chapters and people, Sandoval said, adding that he will do it in such a way that the council won't be able to claim he's still acting as president.

Shirley can go to chapter meetings and Shirley himself said Wednesday that one of the things he plans on doing is to visit chapters that ask him to come and explain what is happening.

When he does, Shirley said he'd probably go without the customary security detail he's had as president, though he said he thinks it's still needed.

Vicki Shirley will continue to act as first lady, he said.

"I feel good," Shirley told the Navajo Times, adding that he was still disappointed at the council's decision.

He took heart to see some support among the delegates, 22 of whom voted against putting him on leave.

Shirley said the council's decision was not a surprise, and expressed confidence that he will be vindicated in the end.

The investigation will prove "that there is really nothing there," he said.

He said he doesn't expect to spend much of his leave just relaxing and hasn't backed off on his desire to promote government reform, alluding to his two ballot initiatives to curtail the council's size and its power over the tribal purse.

He, like others in his administration, said he feels his past efforts along this line are what got him in trouble with enough delegates to end up being suspended.

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