Letters: Writer needs to scrutinize his own party

This letter is in response to Randall Benally’s opinion entitled, “Make the right choice for our people” published in the Navajo Times on March 17, 2016. While he is correct that “It’s that time again to elect a new U.S. president,” he has once again demonstrated his narrowness in thought about the Republican Party, especially when it comes to being a Native American Republican like myself.
to the readers of the Navajo Times.

Let us examine today’s politics since Benally is hinged on Donald Trump’s “Let’s Make America Great Again” where he believes Trump is “openly condoning violence and hatred.” If this was true, why have there been zero attacks at a Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton rally?

But that is not the case for supporters of Trump at their rallies where supporters of Sanders and Clinton have repeatedly caused havoc. The recent took place in Fountain Hills, Ariz., where Sanders/Clinton protestors obstructed the flow of traffic on a major highway.

What happened to public civility and respect for opposing views? When did havoc and violence become the norm to demonstrate tolerance?

While Benally and many Native American Democrats praise their party on the progress they made from being the Democrat Party that attempted to filibuster and kill the Civil Rights Act of 1964, or electing a former “Grand Kleagle” of the Ku Klux Klan to serve eight years as its Senate majority leader, or voting against the first African American United States Supreme Court Justice nominee, not much has changed.

For instance, in 2008, former President Bill Clinton said to the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, “A few years ago, this guy would have been carrying our bags,” as President Clinton tried to convince the liberal lion to endorse his wife, Hillary Clinton, over then-Senator Obama. Or when then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid described then-Senator Obama as a “light skinned” African American “with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one.”

Or, in 2009, when then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, “I admire Margaret Sanger enormously, her courage, her tenacity, her vision…” This is the same Margaret Sanger who founded Planned Parenthood and said, “Colored people are like human weeds and need to be exterminated.”

While such statements do not make the evening news, it’s easy to be blindsided by the media or in this case an opinion letter by Benally about the Republican Party. It is these reasons I pose the question to Benally, “How can anyone support [Democrats]?”

Even though it is true politics today is not for the thin-skinned, I encourage Benally to continue writing as it provides me the opportunity to provide a different perspective. And while him and I may not all see eye-to-eye, I am still proud to belong to a party that is pro-civil rights, pro-life, and pro-personal responsibility.

Edwin J. Begay
Member
McKinley County Republican State Central Committee
Tohatchi, N.M.

NHA not helping people with disabilities

This letter is in regards to a news article that appeared in the Navajo Times on Feb. 18, 2016, entitled “NHA Receives Full Funding for Fiscal 2016”. It is well known that the Navajo people continue to struggle with a public housing shortage across the Navajo Nation. This shortage is an even bigger problem for Navajos with disabilities. Instead of receiving needed housing services, these individuals routinely depend on relatives or get stuck in a nursing home due to a significant lack of accessible homes.

The Navajo Vocational Rehabilitation and Opportunities for Person with Disabilities Act was passed by the tribal council in 1984. This law mandates that housing services be provided in a non-discriminatory basis for Navajos with disabilities, but this tribal 32-year-old law continues to be disregarded.

In 2010, NHA was cited by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for violating Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. This federal law provides that a person with a disability cannot be denied the benefits of a federally-funded program because of his or her disability. HUD found that NHA failed (1) to provide policies and procedures addressing how housing services will be accessible for Navajos with disabilities; (2) to provide a grievance procedure; (3) to provide needed reasonable accommodations to those with a disability; (4) to provide an adequate number of accessible housing units; and (5) imposed upon applicants a complicated and lengthy application process. As a result of these violations, HUD and NHA entered into a Volunteer Compliance Agreement to resolve these issues in five years, but to date, these major deficiencies have not been addressed. NHA’s inability to comply with the VCA affects over 30 percent of the Navajo population, who are adults with disabilities, and their families.

Federal law mandates that a minimum of 5 percent of the total number of housing units constructed should be accessible for people with disabilities. It was reported that NHA with new allocated funds of over $86 million will build more than 50,000 homes on the Navajo Nation, which means that if NHA complies with the applicable law, more than 2,500 homes will be accessible for people with disabilities. It should be noted that with a large disability population, just meeting the minimal federal mandate of 5 percent will not address the needs of Navajos with disabilities, but it would be a good start.

With the numerous barriers experienced by applicants for public housing services, the significant percentage of Navajos with disabilities, and the high rate of unemployment and poverty, the need for increased access to housing services is evident. It remains very concerning that NHA continues to demonstrate very little sensitivity in affording all of the legal rights of Navajos with disabilities, despite federal and Navajo Nation laws.

Hoskie Benally Jr.
Community/Government Liaison
Native American Disability Law Center
Farmington, N.M.

Prop. 123 is not the way to fund education

I was disappointed to read the article “DODE superintendent endorses Proposition 123” in the Feb. 4 edition of the Navajo Times. The fact that Dr. Lewis even had the time to make press statements on this issue is troubling. Dr. Lewis oversees Navajo grant, contract and BIE schools, not the public school system. Worse yet, HEHSC and the Naabik’iyati’ Committee of the Navajo Nation Council also approved Legislation No. 0030-16 expressing support of Proposition 123.

First of all, Proposition 123, also known as Arizona Education Finance Amendment appears to be a no-brainer. Who wouldn’t support more funds for education?

Given the fact that Arizona comes in third to last on public education spending with an average of $7,000 per student, voters need to cautiously take a closer look at Proposition 123.

Six Republican representatives of the Arizona Legislature are sponsoring this bill. Republican Governor Ducey and Republican State Treasurer Jeff DeWit have expressed their support. Proposition 123 would allocate $3.5 billion of the state permanent land trust over 10 years. This may seem like a lot of money, but only adds up to $173 per student per year more than what is being spent now.

Republican Political Consultant Max Fose is quoted as saying, “The voters are hungry for a solution to being last in education funding.”

It is obvious that the Republicans, as well as Dr. Lewis and Nabi, are out of touch with reality if they think this is a real solution. In fact, this proposition would not change Arizona’s ranking of 49^th out of 51 states (includes Washington, D.C.). Arizona would need to add at least $4,000 extra per student to reach the national average of $11,000 per student.

The truth is, the Republican-controlled Arizona legislature has continually failed to prioritize education in its annual budget. Gov. Ducey and the Republicans are merely using the voters to settle a five-year-old lawsuit over school funding in which the state ignored Proposition 301 approved by voters in 2000.

It appears that Dr. Lewis is clueless when it comes to Proposition 123. We as voters want a long-term viable solution for education funding. I urge Navajo Nation voters to thoroughly research Proposition 123 before accepting the misguided endorsements of Dr. Lewis and Nabi.  Our leaders must do more on behalf of our school-aged children instead of settling for disparaging funding.

“Better than nothing” attitude is not good enough. Leadership is vital!

Aaron Yazzie
President, Blue Gap Chapter
Blue Gap, Ariz.

Hey, Heinrich, what about your own state?

When New Mexican voters sent Martin Heinrich to Washington, D.C., they reasonably expected him to look after the concerns of New Mexicans. But as Heinrich has demonstrated over and over, he is looking out for anyone but New Mexicans.

Heinrich devoted his March 14 newsletter to safe drinking water for the people of Flint. He writes: “Right now, the people of Flint, Mich., are in the midst of a severe water crisis. Their water supply is contaminated with poisonous lead and other harmful chemicals that are causing tragic health affects for the people of Flint … demand that relief is sent to Flint!”

Here’s what I would like to hear from our junior senator: “Right now, the people of Northwest New Mexico are in the midst of a severe water crisis. The water supply is contaminated with poisonous lead and other harmful chemicals that are causing tragic health affects for the people of Northwest New Mexico.”

The EPA has changed the listing of the Animas River from drinking water use to recreation use. The river does not meet drinking water requirements. When there is a major storm and a substantial increase of water flow, the contaminated sediments get stirred back up and the level of contaminates increases.

The nonpartisan website GovTrack.us ranks Heinrich as fourth-lowest of all senators on leadership, second-lowest on introducing bipartisan bills, and second-lowest on working with the House. But hey, we can take consolation that our junior senator is ranked second-“hottest” male senator (behind South Dakota’s John Thune).

Perhaps that’s why New Mexico ranks at or near the bottom of all states on so many measurements of public wellbeing.

it was Heinrich’s closing statement in his newsletter that revealed the most about his attitude as our senator: “Thank you for standing with me,” he wrote.

It is not our job to stand with Sen. Heinrich. It is his job to stand with us. It’s his job to advocate to our federal government for the people of New Mexico – not Michigan, California, or New York. We pay his salary. He works for us – at least, he should work for us.

Write Martin Heinrich and demand that he do his job by getting federal relief for the citizens of Northwest New Mexico who suffered from the Animas River Spill.

Mick Rich
Albuquerque, N.M.

A picture is worth a thousand words

In the Navajo Times article titled, “Tuba City woman files lawsuit against blogger for slander, defamation” by Bill Donovan, he reports that a recent pictorial had gone viral via online social media.

The Tuba City woman, Myra Begay-Draper, who is in the picture along with Navajo President Russell Begaye, was shown in a series of photographs from talking to holding hands in an informal meeting at a restaurant. This meeting was a proposal to setting up a power grid to a house when an already proposal had been established to set up 33 homes. Of the 33 homes, only one had been completed.

Navajo President Begaye states that, “People have misconstrued what was happening in the photos.” As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, and in the act of holding hands and whispering into each other’s ears is nothing professional.

The Navajo people of the Coal Mine Project are in as much need of power as Begaye-Draper, but why was it that only one house was set up? The house belonging to Edward Begay, Myra Begay-Draper’s father. This sparked an outrage. The president of the Navajo people should not be shown fondling in public, then a couple of days later a project is done in the other party’s favor. The Coal Mine Project had been scheduled to set up 33 homes to the power grid but Begay-Draper was the only successful one. This action only sets up questions to whether this was done on favoritism or a relationship with Begay-Draper?

The actions taken on part of hooking a single unit to the power grid should have not been, but as a whole along with the other 32 families. The old saying of “quid pro quo” does show. This would have been a great opportunity to start the project, instead of one, then calling it a day. As the whole meeting in a public place concerning major business issues should have been done more professionally in an office along with the right people. Instead of showing a favor, why not include the rest of the people to avoid the propaganda?

Matthew Tsosie
Blue Gap, Ariz.

Why hasn’t Coach Walsh been fired?

In the Navajo Times article titled, “Chapter officials call for investigations of Thoreau basketball coach” by Christopher Pineo, he reports that the head basketball coach for Thoreau was using racist remarks and using inappropriate language towards his own players. With the school board and chapter officials on their feet, what are they really doing about this accusation brought up against Mr. Walsh and his behavior?

Head Coach Walsh said, “This is the worst (expletive) team I ever dealt with.” I mean, who says that to their own team? There is no need in the world for him to be saying that. What is taking so long for Walsh to get fired?

Seems like Thoreau Chapter House and the school board isn’t really doing anything about it, more like sweeping it under the carpet. Maybe the school board favors him?

You just can’t say those comments and remarks to the players. Walsh needs to grow up and apologize to the players. He needs to strongly think about what comes out his mouth and watch his actions before he really makes a parent furious.

“He’s racist in a way to where you don’t want to be around him.” This quote is exactly why he needs to go. Walsh is never going to be respected and looked at the way he was before.

With that being said, the school board and the chapter officials really need to sit down with Mr. Walsh and discuss his future at Thoreau High School. At least suspend him from coaching and teaching so he can think about how wrong his actions were and how it affected the players and the community. If not, fire him!

Nobody’s parent is going to want his or her son playing for this man. Thoreau can’t have a racist coach targeting Native American players, shooting their hopes down, and telling them they aren’t good enough for the team. You’re the coach, you are supposed to be giving these players inspiration, teaching them, and keeping their heads held up high.

I hope Walsh gets some serious consequences put on him for his inappropriate behavior and actions.

Trenton Draper
Chinle, Ariz.

What happened to the Veterans Act?

Now that everything has quieted down, the dust has settled, and all the hoorah no longer sounding off, I like to share something with my comrades some very disturbing issues about the recent passage of the Veterans Act ceremonies that swept across the great Navajo Nation.

First of all, we like to recall how our own people and our so-called government treated us the longest time with lies, mistreatment, and denials, yet we look forward still hoping that someday we will get our recognition.

Yes, we heard that a majority of the veterans at the chapter veterans organization meetings praise this new government on how the Veterans Act was handled.

The first issue is for many years the veterans of all sorts tried to get the enabling legislation passed so we can start properly. For many this recent legislation was considered as the Veterans Act, but no it was just a legislation establishing a Veteran Advisory Council and veteran administration.

Somewhere down the line, somebody is going to ask, What authority did we have to create this Veterans Act?

Then we were supposed to show our enabling legislation, but this legislation never came about. Just before it was presented to the Navajo Nation Council the enabling legislation was changed to Establishing Veterans Advisory Council and creating the veteran administration. The very next day it was blurred out that the Veterans Act was passed. Was the Veterans Act really passed?

What the veterans really wanted to see is a binder, booklet, and/or pamphlet with the title “Veterans Act” on the cover addressing all of our problems with solutions, including plan of operation, by-laws codification, etc. Look at the Blue Book from Title One to Title 26. Are they only two pages? Our Veterans Act should at least be one inch to one and a half inch thick or even bigger.

Second issue, we understand that the 11 Veteran Advisory Council members have been selected. Who are they, and who selected them? Are they the same group that supports the recent passage of the Veterans Act? Where are the vacancy position announcements or were they selected/appointed politically? Are these 11 people going to create the Veterans Act? Are they going to sit in all the meetings in Window Rock to represent us per veteran’s recognition?

The third issue is the veteran’s administration. A couple of years ago we went through the entire Navajo Nation five agencies with public hearings and the veterans have spoken. They don’t want divisions or departments, what happened? Did we go through another public hearing?

So, now you either clarify it or show us the binder, booklet, or the pamphlet with the title “Veterans Act”. Or is this just another lie and delay technique?

Another saying, “Now you got what you want, now shut up!”

We need a coalition or something to help us monitor them.

Earl Milford
Fort Defiance, Ariz.

---