Broke chapter votes to stay open

Posted by Cindy Yurth | Jul 24, 2017 | News |

WHIPPOORWILL, Ariz.

Ignoring warnings from the Division of Community Development that it would trigger massive liability issues, not to mention an accounting nightmare, Whippoorwill Chapter voted unanimously Sunday to keep its chapter house open full-time — in spite of the fact that the chapter has no money and is tens of thousands of dollars in debt.

Whippoorwill Chapter location.

The chapter also failed to pass a resolution adopting a budget for nearly $800,000 in carryover funds from last fiscal year after finding out only $975.78 of that money is actually left in the chapter’s checking account.

Chapter Vice President Dennis Tom, who conducted the chapter meeting as Chapter President Jennifer Begay sat in the audience, said the rest of the carryover funds are unaccounted for and the subject of an investigation currently under way at the chapter.

Begay has been asked to stay out of chapter business during the investigation, which was started after Tom and Chapter Secretary-Treasurer Peter Sage, who were elected in a special election this spring, uncovered what they felt were questionable financial practices at the chapter and asked for an audit.

The Navajo Nation White Collar Crime Unit would neither confirm nor deny that a criminal investigation is taking place with regards to the funds. Auditor General Elizabeth Begay started an audit of the chapter several months ago but has not published the results.

Tom characterized Sunday’s meeting as a chance for the chapter to get its house in order and start putting the budget back together. Higher-ups from the DCD were on hand to support the efforts, even though, as the division’s executive director, Carl Smith, pointed out, the DCD is not supposed to be interfering in the business of certified chapters like Whippoorwill.

Carrying over the fiscal 2016 funds and creating a budget for them “is a requirement for an audit,” explained Johnny Jonson, manager of the DCD’s Administrative Service Center. “No, you’re not going to get your money. All we’re trying to do is put this in place … You have to think differently — ‘We’re going to make it.’ That’s how you’re going to think.”

After narrowly rejecting a motion to table the carryover budget, the chapter voted 16-0-1 to adopt it — but the vote was short of the 25-person quorum. The vote was 32 to zero to keep the chapter open on a volunteer basis.