Trio received thousands in council aid

Three individuals with close family ties to the legislative branch have received more than $72,000 in financial aid from discretionary funds allocated to that branch over the past five years, according to financial records of the Navajo Nation Council and Speaker Lawrence T. Morgan (Iyanbito/Pinedale).

As many as 25 disbursements, totaling $15,800, were made to the same individual in one year, despite a rule passed by the council in 2007 that prohibits tribal members from receiving assistance more than once a year, the records show.

Tribal law prohibits officials from using their position for personal gain, but does not specifically prohibit the use of discretionary funds for family members or other persons, such as an employee, closely connected to the officials who control the money.

The rules limit aid from the speaker to $300 per person per year, while delegates can give as much as they wish. However, Morgan and other tribal leaders with discretionary funds have said the grants seldom exceed $500 per person.

The payments were made via checks that bore the signature of Morgan or one of over two dozen delegates, and were made out to the aid recipients by name.

The largest amount went to Amanda Teller, daughter of Delegate Leonard Teller (Lukachukai/Tsaile/Wheatfields) and Laura Calvin, senior financial advisor to the legislative branch.

Since 2003, Amanda Teller has received a total of $28,025, including $15,800 in 2008, the records show. The 2008 financial aid came in the form of 32 checks, ranging in size from $300 to $700.

Among the signatures are Morgan's and those of 18 delegates. Amanda Teller's sister Andrea Calvin received $6,250 over a two-year period.

The second largest total amount of aid - $26,735 over a four-year period - went to Melvina Smiley, daughter of Eva Smiley, secretary to the council's Resources Committee.

The third largest amount went to Jasper Smiley, Eva's husband, who received $17,370 over a three-month period in 2007.

Financial records showed that all three aid recipients, Teller and the two Smileys, were still receiving discretionary fund checks in 2009.

On Sept. 2, Morgan confirmed that the discretionary fund regulations governing both the council and speaker set a "once a year" limit for financial assistance to an individual.

After Morgan scanned the financial records of Amanda, Jasper and Melvina Smiley, he said that he is only aware of the assistance he provides to "eligible" individuals.

He noted that he is not the only individual authorized to approve requests from the delegates for discretionary assistance to individuals.

Morgan said that the legislative senior financial advisor, who is Laura Calvin, also approves requests from delegates.

One big family

In March 2008, Amanda Teller received nine checks totaling $4,200 from nine delegates. Four of the checks, for $500 each, were issued on the same day, March 28, 2008.

On Jan. 29, 2009, Morgan himself signed two checks for her, one for $300 and another for $700 - an apparent violation of the rule limiting aid to once a year.

On Sept. 3, Morgan said the checks came from two different sources of discretionary money.

The $300 check was written on his discretionary funds account as speaker, he explained, while the $700 check came from the discretionary account he maintains as a council delegate.

Morgan repeatedly noted that the policies and procedures allow him and the delegates to provide financial assistance to anyone with a census number, which includes immediate family members and legislative staff.

"That's why it's called discretionary," he added.

"But that was not the intent," Delegate Leonard Tsosie (Pueblo Pintado/Torreon/Whitehorse Lake) said Tuesday.

"It's a constituency help program that someone envisioned. But it's turned for the worse," Tsosie said. "You can't get rich off of discretionary funds. You do the reverse. You get the program into trouble and it might actually get defunded because now you're leaning towards abuse."

Amanda Teller did not respond to an effort to contact her via e-mail and via her Facebook page. Her father, Leonard Teller, became visibly enraged when approached Tuesday as the council prepared to convene a special session on the annual budget.

As a Navajo Times reporter tried to ask him a question, Teller grabbed the tape recorder in the reporter's hand and growled, "Get out of here!"

Approached a second time moments later, he said angrily, "Would you leave? I don't have nothing to say to you."

The financial records show that Leonard Teller made one aid grant to his daughter Amanda, for $200 in 2006, and gave eight checks to his stepdaughter Andrea Calvin totaling $3,800.

Laura Calvin, who is the controller over legislative branch funds, did not respond to an e-mail and phone messages from the Times.

Other players?

Eva Smiley was interviewed Sept. 2 and said the assistance to her daughter was for education. She offered no explanation for the checks to her husband, except to state that he only received one of two $2,000 checks listed as being from Delegate George Arthur (Nenahnezad/San Juan/T'iistsoh Sikaad).

"This one is not right," she said, looking at a printout of check entries. "Unless someone (is) using his name."

According to the financial documents, two checks, each for $2,000, were issued this year to Jasper Smiley by Arthur, who chairs the committee for which Eva Smiley works.

Eva said she would show the check records to her husband and daughter and have them talk to the Navajo Times, but as of press time Wednesday the Times had not heard from them.

In a separate interview, George Arthur admitted that he knew he was providing discretionary assistance to his legislative secretary's husband and daughter.

Arthur said he probably provided the two $2,000 checks to Eva's husband because of a death in the family.

"She lost a daughter very recently, so it could have been for that type of assistance," he said.

The Smileys lost a daughter in 2006.

In total, Arthur has given Eva's husband $4,600 and her daughter $1,100 since January 2007. He said he didn't know they were getting assistance from other delegates as well.

"I would think that (Eva) should at least let me know that she's also asking other delegates," Arthur said.

Among the 25 delegates who gave discretionary aide to Smiley's daughter are seven of the eight Resources Committee members.

Of those committee members, Vice Chairman Curran Hannon (Oak Springs/St. Michaels) provided the most money to Melvina Smiley, three checks that totaled to $2,250. Hannon's most recent check was for $1,000 on May 7, 2009.

Among the 19 delegates who gave money to Smiley's husband, six are on the Resources Committee. Again, Hannon provided the largest amount, $2,900 in three checks. The most recent and largest of the three checks was for $2,000 on July 23, 2009.

Watchdog needed

Arthur pointed to the speaker's office and blamed the financial unit - headed by Laurie Calvin - for not monitoring the number of checks that Eva Smiley's husband and daughter received.

"... because this is not the first time," Arthur said. "I know that there was a question at one time also on a former legislative staff that took the council for a ride to the tune of $20,000."

Arthur was referring to the 2006 incident that led the council to pass rules governing how discretionary funds can be used by the legislative branch.

In 2006, the Navajo Times published a story about $13,248 in discretionary aid that an employee in the speaker's office, Fern Anthnette Spencer, got between 2003 and 2006.

Accusations of self-dealing, favoritism and cover-up rained down on the council from angry tribal members, prompting the council to make some rules governing its use of the millions in discretionary funds that it appropriates from tribal funds each year.

The president and vice president also receive regular allocations of discretionary funds, but the rules don't cover them and they have refused to release information on the recipients or amounts given.

The rules passed by the council call for an annual audit of the legislative branch discretionary funds, to ensure against a repeat of the Fern Spencer incident.

But no one notified the Office of the Auditor General, acting Auditor General Elizabeth Begay said Wednesday.

Begay said the last she'd heard of it was in 2006, when Leonard Gorman, who was then chief of staff for Morgan, told her that he was working on including a section to require annual audits of the legislative branch discretionary funds.

In response to the Spencer incident, Morgan also announced there would be an investigation and possible prosecution if allegations of wrongdoing against her were proved, but as of today, none has taken place. Spencer was allowed to leave quietly and went on to be chosen as Miss Intertribal Ceremonial Princess the following year.

At press time on Wednesday, Morgan had not responded to questions about why the investigation never took place, or how the lack of response may have set the stage for the current use of discretionary funds.

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