Shelly names key appointees

Appointees to the Ben Shelly-Rex Lee Jim administration are being announced this week and it appears the new regime will include many old faces.

Sherrick Roanhorse, who was executive staff assistant to then Vice President Ben Shelly, will be chief of staff for newly sworn-in President Shelly, holding the top executive position in the new administration.

The Shelly administration will have a number of carryovers from the Shirley administration.

On Wednesday, D. Harrison Tsosie, who served as deputy attorney general in the Shirley administration, was named attorney general. Dana L Bobroff, a former attorney in the Department of Justice, was named deputy attorney general.

Mark Grant will continue as controller. Virgil Brown will stay on as head of the Division of General Services and Arbin Mitchell will still head the Division of Community Development.

Former tribal parks Director Fred White will head the Division of Natural Resources.

A couple of surprises have surfaced so far.

Raymond Maxx, the former Council delegate from Tuba City, has been tagged to replace Roman Bitsuie, longtime head of the Navajo-Hopi Land Office.

George Waybanis will head the Division of Public Safety. Waybanis is an interesting choice because there's an active warrant for his arrest dating back to the 1989 political tussle between then Chairman Peter MacDonald Sr. and the Council.

Waybanis was a Navajo police officer at the time and was loyal to Police Chief Bill Kellogg, MacDonald's appointee. He was among several officers who arrested the Council's appointee to replace Kellogg, leading to the charge of assault.

The charges have followed Waybanis for decades, forcing him to give up law enforcement. He became a teacher, but always has said the police never made any attempt to actually arrest him. This, he said, proves that the charges against him were not valid.

Cora Maxx Phillips, a former Shirley aide, will head the Office of the First Lady.

Shelly has yet to announce his appointments the Department of Education, the divisions Health and Social Services, and the president's press office.

The new chief of staff, Roanhorse, said some of the appointments may be temporary and that Shelly plans to review them after 90 days.

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