Letters | General election a “wake-up call”

What does the recent tribal election mean? First of all, it is simple. The Navajo people were neither pleased nor supportive of the Navajo Nation leadership on the executive and legislative sides this past four years.

Let’s begin by looking at those numbers on the legislative side. Only eight delegates were voted back, but only five of the eight were elected back overwhelmingly. The other three delegates barely slipped by, which means the people were not happy with those three delegates either.

Of the four Council committees, the Resource and Development Committee and Budget and Finance Committee lost 90 percent of their members. That means the people were not pleased with any of those committee members or the committees themselves.

It’s clear that former members of the RDC and B&F should not be on those committees in the next four years, except for Delegate Crotty and Delegate Slater.

You have five delegates that were reelected with overwhelming numbers, which means the Navajo people said they are doing a good job. Those five delegates should be chairs and vice chairs of the committees. The delegates are A. Crotty, E. Newton, V. James, O. Tso, with C. Slater maybe being considered a vice chair.

On the executive side, all the appointees and division directors must go. Economic Development and Natural Resource executive directors were clearly where voters wanted competent applicants.

The problem is that Navajo experts from outside the reservation come with a cost. Still, if the nation invests in those professional Navajos, the benefits could be huge, especially if they have good track records.

Successful models that work are nearby. Navajo Nation just has to look at Farmington and its low unemployment rate. Both Farmington’s Chamber of Commerce and Four Corners Economic Development have outstanding professionals that help create jobs and bring tax-paying companies to the region. Sixty percent of the Four Corners regional workforce is Navajo.

This recent tribal election was a wake-up call for the Navajo voters. The old guard is not something the Navajo people want for their future.

Thanks for letting me state what I see with this election.

Marie Rose
Shiprock