Letters: ASC may be causing disorder in chapters

As a concerned community member, I would like to shed light on an issue I feel needs to be reported to the people. I also like to remind elected officials that the people have the ultimate say so, you cannot do whatever you want as you may think. It’s not happening only in Kayenta Chapter.

They refer to themselves as administrative service center to chapters or ASC. ASC is causing disruptions within Kayenta Chapter administration operation.

One disruption that really stands out is putting the manager on leave for a whole month without community members’ knowledge.

During this time, there were services that got neglected, which could have been covered by the acting manager or ASC, but it was not. It’s not like the Kayenta Chapter has money to throw around. Why is our money being spent like that, by putting an employee on leave?

A whole month of denying services to the community, a waste of chapter funds when it could have been spent more wisely.

All of a sudden, financial assistance was pulled right under the people’s nose without proper official notice to the voting membership.

I was very disappointed in the way things were handled and the chapter services were disrupted by ASC without providing notice to community members.

As members of Kayenta Chapter, our requests for financial assistance were ignored. Even a doctor’s statement was not honored, which got denied. Acting manager overruled and disregarded a doctor’s statement. Doesn’t this hold any merit anymore? Usually a doctor’s statement supersedes everything and holds merit.

I made every effort to try and get an answer from the acting manager, but my calls were ignored. I wanted to address my concerns to the acting manager because financial services were not being provided to community members.

Also, don’t the elected officials and ASC know that it costs more money to get utilities reconnected? And some community members had moved back to the reservation because of the pandemic and some people are going through tough times? Financially, some of us are struggling since the pandemic started.

Talk about officials, Council Delegate Nathaniel Brown doesn’t even try to find money for the community members. He is neglecting his duties and responsibilities to the three chapters he is supposed to be representing. He thinks only of his interests.

ASC needs to specify what they are doing at the chapter houses. Are they really providing technical assistance or are they being bullies to chapters?

The sad part is some officials are going along with what ASC is planning and doing. That brings up the question, who does the current elected officials work for? For ASC?

I am concerned about what is happening at Kayenta Chapter. Officials were elected into their positions by the people to act on their behalf of the people. Why is that not realized? If not, I’d like to remind the elected officials they work for the people.

Far too long the elected officials of Kayenta Chapter have done whatever they wanted and mismanaged and misspent our chapter funds. They did whatever they wanted at their pleasure amongst themselves.

No wonder all these years there is hardly any progress in Kayenta. There is no communication and cooperation.

As one concerned community member, our chapter organization needs to shape up ASAP. We have the power to keep or recall our elected officials. We cannot keep them seated if they continue to be ineffective. Progress and projects need to happen.

We have been neglected far too long. Some of the individuals have been elected officials for too long. They have become complacent and too comfortable, collecting stipends. This type of behavior has to stop.

You did not attend to certain aspects of your outcome. You were not proactive in it; therefore, Kayenta Chapter’s fate is a destiny unattended. The opportunity to meaningfully change our future, our fate is within our hands. Let’s make that change. Progress needs to happen.

Andrew Bradley
Kayenta, Ariz.

Undeniable failure, back to square one

We Navajos have to come to reality that our dream of Navajo Transitional Energy Company becoming a shining example of tribal ownership is a failure.

After 50 years of non-Navajo taking our coal resources we are right back in the same spot. NTEC non-Navajo managers and lawyers found an opportunity and weakness in the tribal law the Navajo created and used it to their full advantage.

What else is new when it comes to taking advantage and using the Navajo people’s resource?

We Navajos need to get over it unless we are going to implement change and make it right.

The latest trip by Navajo tribal officials to Wyoming and Montana proved that NTEC’s managers and board members are not going to give into the tribal leadership request. They are not going to show NTEC books to the Navajo Nation officials.

The fact is Navajo Nation lost out on the profits of the Wyoming and Montana mines. The communities, state and counties in Montana/Wyoming continue to reap those million-dollar benefits from Navajo coal. We know the profits of Navajo mine continue to float up to Montana and Wyoming to balance those failing mines.

On the visit to Wyoming, it was sad the tribal officials only saw one, maybe two, Navajos working at the Wyoming/Montana mines. No Navajo managers in position to make any critical decisions about NTEC.

The key managers are still CEO Clark Moseley’s small circle of friends and relatives, most of which have been let go from other mines. NTEC’s million-dollar Broomfield Colorado office continues to operate and taking Navajo mine profits.

NTEC throws small bones to the Navajo communities and reminds us to be thankful Navajos. It’s laughable what tribal communities get compared to what the communities and towns in Montana and Wyoming receive. NTEC is one of the greatest mishaps the Navajo Nation has made establishing its own coal company.

It’s not all hopeless. After all, we are the Navajo Nation, and we make the laws that benefit the Navajo people.

Navajo can make some changes to NTEC’s plan of operation and the legislation. We can start by doing a forensic audit by Navajo Nation’s own third party.

We can request that we see those salaries of the senior managers and their travel, bonuses, and other perks they receive using Navajo profits.

We can also request to see the board stipends, bonus and travel cost. We just need enough lawmakers working with OPVP to come together and make these changes.

We Navajos need to quit crying and fix things that are wrong and that don’t bring any benefit to the Navajo people.

David Tabaha
Shiprock, N.M.

Biden administration could restore fairness, balance

President Biden and Vice President Harris were elected on their plan to Build Back Better — their agenda to rebuild America’s economy with equity and fairness after COVID-19 and decades of rising inequality.

And while the Build Back Better agenda makes its way through Congress, the administration can begin restoring fairness and balance to the economy right away by making smart decisions about personnel and who implements its agenda.

The Federal Communications Commission has a direct effect on one-sixth of the U.S. economy, touching all aspects of telecommunication and technology policy. But this critically important agency, which is governed by five commissioners, has two vacancies, including a permanent chair, holding the commission back from achieving some of its most critical work to advance equity and undue the most harmful policies implemented by the Trump administration.

Thankfully, there is an obvious choice to lead the FCC so it can implement a progressive agenda. The acting chair, Jessica Rosenworcel, has a demonstrated record leading on progressive issues and taking on the tough fights that America needs to build back better.

From leading the fight to end inequality in schools driven by the lack of high-speed Internet access, to taking on Donald Trump over net neutrality, and holding big corporations accountable for harmful business practices, Rosenworcel has shown she’ll look out for kids, consumers, and everyday Americans as FCC chair.

Rosenworcel has the support of 25 Senate Democrats, 33 House Democratic women, and five major labor unions together representing 8 million members, including the American Federation of Teachers, the Communication Workers of America, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the National Education Association, and the Service Employees International Union. All of these are reasons why we need President Biden to nominate her as permanent chair now.

COVID-19 and the move to remote everything shined a spotlight on the vast differences in the quality of education that students with the internet receive and that those without the internet receive. The vast majority of the latter group are poor from rural areas and communities of color.

The short- and long-term effects of this inequality are so detrimental and so obvious an area we need to tackle that Jessica Rosenworcel coined and popularized a name for it — “the homework gap” — during her career fighting to close, well before COVID-19 brought attention to it.

Rosenworcel urged the FCC to create the $7.17 billion Emergency Connectivity Fund, which sent federal dollars to schools and libraries in low-income communities to cover the costs of Wi-Fi hotspots, laptops, and tablets.

And if Congress passes the build-back better infrastructure bills, the FCC will be responsible for administering $14.2 billion in benefits that go to help millions of families afford high-speed internet.

We need someone with Rosenworcel’s experience fighting for digital equity to make sure this program reaches everyone it’s meant to help.

Jessica Rosenworcel has shown she’s not afraid to take on the tough fights to protect Americans from greedy corporations and their political allies. When President Trump’s flunky Ajit Pai rolled back net neutrality rules, Rosenworcel was one of the loudest voices speaking out against the decision saying it would create a two-tiered internet and that it would “speed the traffic of the privileged and leave the rest of us lagging behind.”

She’s vowed to use her power to “keep raising a ruckus to support net neutrality,” and fight for an open Internet.

Similarly, when T-Mobile and Sprint announced they would merge, Rosenworcel voted against it because she knew it would hurt consumers by driving up prices, reducing competition, and lowering the quality of service.

Rosenworcel would be the first woman confirmed as permanent chair of the FCC in the agency’s history. As the 33 Democratic women in the House of Representatives who endorsed her noted in a public letter from earlier this year, Rosenworcel’s spent her career lifting up the voices and needs of women who are far too often ignored when it comes to technology and communications policy.

Her confirmation as chair would provide an example of women in leadership fighting for underrepresented communities to young girls everywhere.

To add additional urgency, if the Senate doesn’t confirm a new permanent chair by next year, Republicans will hold a majority of the seats on the FCC, hampering our ability to get things done at the exact moment the president promised to be delivering for the American people.

America has a qualified leader in Jessica Rosenworcel. She’s taken on the tough fights to bring equity and fairness to millions of Americans even when powerful interests were standing in her way.

I am grateful President Biden saw the urgency and this week nominated Jessica Rosenworcel to FCC chair. Now we need the Senate to swiftly move to confirm her. Millions of Americans and the president’s agenda are counting on it.

Debbie Nez-Manuel
Voting member of Klagetoh Chapter
Scottsdale, Ariz.

Nation needs and supports Build Back Better Act

Our people are stewards of Mother Earth, protecting land, water, air, and honoring all life. Our way of life is sensitive to the impacts of climate change.

Already we see that the climate crisis is causing massive fires across the west, drought, “heat domes”, and water shortages.

For many decades, despite the federal government’s trust responsibility, our needs have not received beneficial sustenance, hindering our communities from carrying out our plans and projects.

The COVID-19 pandemic amplified the consequences of this when families living without electricity or plumbing were among those who were hardest hit by the virus.

Native households are 19 times more likely to lack complete plumbing than other households and it’s estimated that 75 percent of U.S. homes without electricity are located on the Navajo Nation.

We support the infrastructure bill moving through Congress because those funds can support critical broadband, energy, and other vital infrastructure improvements across the Navajo Nation.

But we know, based on our lived experience, that “infrastructure” should be thought of in the broadest possible terms. That’s why there is another proposal moving through Congress right now called the “Build Back Better” agenda.

Navajo Nation Council members have also voiced support for the infrastructure investments that would be funded by this legislation.

Through these policies, our communities can access funding for shovel-ready projects or workforce development programs for our families.

It can also prioritize a restoration economy focused on remediating orphaned oil-and-gas wells and abandoned mine sites that dot our landscape and contaminate the air, land, water, and harm our people’s health.

Lastly, resources can finally be dedicated to expanding our existing and planned solar and wind projects.

This is our once-in-a-generation chance to protect our communities and sacred places against the onslaught of the climate crisis.

While we wait for Congress to act on the infrastructure bill and the larger climate and justice package, we also need rapid dissemination of American Rescue Plan Act funds.

These funds not only address direct COVID-related needs such as increased pay for frontline workers and replacement of income lost due to the pandemic, but also for immediate investments in water, sewer and broadband infrastructure projects that can help address the public health and access issues that faced not just the Navajo Nation, but many other tribes and pueblos as they recover from the pandemic.

That is why a growing number of Navajo chapters are calling on the Navajo Nation president and the Navajo Nation Council to strongly consider legislation to approve a $2 million allocation to each of the 110 chapters on the Navajo Nation utilizing the ARPA dollars.

ARPA funds could make a significant contribution to chapter-level projects aimed at improving physical and mental health, public safety, and education.

These funds can support critical needs like updated house wiring and electric hookups; water lines and septic systems; small home energy efficiency projects for windows, doors, floors, and roofing; alternative heating sources to replace coal stoves; agricultural and animal projects; community solar projects, and more.

Build Back Better and the ARPA funds should train and employ a local workforce to plan and implement projects. Government agencies and community organizations must prioritize local community member employment for all infrastructure and community-based projects.

U.S. treaty obligations to tribal nations mean that Congress must take action that considers tribal needs, policy changes for infrastructure implementation and for tackling the impacts of climate on tribal communities.

They must do that with the infrastructure and Build Back Better agenda.

Sen. Shannon D. Pinto, D-District 3
Tohatchi, N.M.

Percy Anderson
Manuelito Chapter
Gallup, N.M.

Grateful to live in the land of the free

New Mexico holds a long and proud military history, even predating our statehood in 1912. Since then, New Mexicans have continued to serve in our armed forces at one of the highest rates of any state in the nation.

Here in northwest New Mexico especially, we are blessed with a strong and proud veteran community, which I am honored to represent in the New Mexico House of Representatives.

This includes distinguished service members such as my friend and Gallup native Hiroshi H. “Hershey” Miyamura. A Korean War veteran who earned the Congressional Medal of Honor for his bravery and valor, Hershey once stayed alone to fight an overwhelming number of enemy soldiers after ordering his squad to safety, and ultimately survived more than two years as a prisoner of war in North Korea.

While our state provides assistance to our retired members of the armed forces through financial, educational, and even recreational benefits, these small tokens of appreciation do not nearly cover the debt of gratitude that we all owe our veterans for their dedication, bravery, and years of service.

So on the national observation of Veterans Day this Nov. 11, let us all take a moment out of our day to honor and support our local veterans.

Visit the Navajo Code Talkers Museum, located right here at the Gallup Cultural Center, and dedicated to the elite group behind the United States never-deciphered secret communications during World War II.

Stop by the Farmington or Gallup vet center and spend some time getting to know your neighborhood vets and learning about their service.

Most importantly, if you know of a veteran in our community who’s struggling, take this opportunity to reach out and see what you can do to help ensure that the service members who fought for our freedoms have the respect and dignity they deserve in their civilian life.

Veterans make up more than 8% of New Mexico’s population, but their invaluable contributions are often overlooked in the busyness of our daily lives. While every day is a great time to celebrate veterans, this is an especially important moment to pay our respects to this most deserving group of men and women.

To our New Mexico veterans, thank you for your service and sacrifice. We are forever grateful to live in the land of the free, because of the brave like you.

State Rep. Patty Lundstrom
Gallup, N.M.

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