Begay-Draper fires back
TUBA CITY
Myra Begay-Draper said Friday that she is not a staff member in the Office of the President and Vice President and that she had been working tirelessly since November 2014 on getting her father’s house connected to the electrical grid.
In the wake of the Edward Begay Power Line Extension Project in Coalmine Canyon, Ariz., the Navajo Times Thursday (Feb. 18) published an article titled “Chapter not buying it: Coalmine folks enraged over power line to Begaye staffer’s father’s home.”
In a statement to the Times, Begay-Draper stated that she is “not on staff with (OPVP) as reported.”
She added, “Reporter Krista Allen’s story is sensationalized. The first three paragraphs report about the Coalmine Mesa Chapter resolution. The remaining story takes a different direction which has nothing to do with the story headline.”
The story reported the chapter unanimously passed a resolution on Sunday asking for an investigation into the power project, which they expected would bring electrical power to 33 families but ended up electrifying only one home, that of Edward Begay.
Voting members of the Coalmine Chapter on Feb. 14 said Begay-Draper, who is the daughter of Edward Begay, had been introduced to the chapter by President Russell Begaye as an OPVP staffer.
Begay-Draper told the Times that she has been working tirelessly on getting her father’s house connected to the electrical grid since the Ben Shelly administration.
“I have documentation … letters … email correspondences,” Begay-Draper said. “Originally, I started this because Coalmine Chapter was just not doing their job in getting projects ready. And because of my (father’s) illness, he needed this.”
Begay-Draper also mentioned that her mother is a wheelchair user.
“Me looking at them, I can’t wait for Coalmine Chapter to move,” she continued. “I have to do it. (Chapter officials) kept saying, ‘We’re doing this, we’re doing that.’ Every time I checked on it, nothing was being done.”
Telling herself that she was going to do it on her own, Begay-Draper said she began the effort of getting electricity for her father’s house.
“And it came down the line (since) November 2014,” she said. “It took all kinds of people’s help. All kinds of people’s input –– (Navajo Tribal Utility Authority), the Navajo Nation Council … different ones giving me input.”
Begay-Draper said she often commuted from Coalmine Canyon to Window Rock to meet with officials and that it didn’t take less than 10 days to get electricity, as fellow chapter members told the Times.
The Feb. 14 resolution requests the investigation of NTUA and four Navajo government offices, including the OPVP.
The resolution, created that day during the regular chapter meeting, was passed 51-0-0.
According to a press release from the OPVP, the Power Line Extension Project was started under the Shelly-Jim administration.
The release states, “The project was stalemate for over a year when brought to the attention of the Begaye-Nez administration.”
Begaye stated that the project was brought to OPVP’s attention as NTUA, at the time, was pulling their matching funds.
“We revived the project so we would not lose funds,” Begaye stated.
The release goes on to read that when the Begaye-Nez administration had secured Community Development Block Grant funding, there was only one home on the project list that had been fully cleared for power line installation.
“This was the home of Edward Begay,” the statement reads.
“Once a project is ready, we immediately act because no one should wait for basic infrastructure such as water and electricity,” Begaye stated.
According to the OPVP, the Edward Begay family is in a special situation for he is an older gentleman and has an illness.
“Because of his medical condition and needs, power is a necessity,” the release reads.
Begaye explains in the release that he and Council Delegate Walter Phelps (Birdsprings/Cameron/Coalmine Canyon/Leupp/Tolani Lake) traveled to Coalmine Canyon to explain the legislation implementing the initial installation and that the other 32 homes would also receive power.
Cecelia Joe, one of the matriarchs of Coalmine Canyon who was present during Begaye’s and Phelps’ visit to the chapter on Jan. 10, said in Navajo that it’s obvious that people in Łeejin Haagééd were cheated.
“Begaye stood up compellingly saying he’s ready to sign,” Joe said in Navajo. “His actions weren’t in order. I wondered how he conducted business. We didn’t say anything. And I wondered why people left. When my family and I got home, we talked about it. I’ve never witnessed anything like that in which leaders cheated us. And the woman (Begay-Draper) was there with him. She followed him around. It’s probably because of her that this happened. Why did he cheat us?”
The release states that all 33 projects have been awarded funding with an approximate implementation date of April 2016.
The Navajo Times will continue to follow this story.
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