Yazzie agrees to step down as NHA CEO

Posted by Navajo Times | Jun 29, 2017 | News |

WINDOW ROCK

Aneva Yazzie

After months of intense criticism from leaders of both the legislative and executive branches of the Navajo Nation government, Aneva Yazzie has agreed to step down as CEO of the Navajo Housing Authority.

The announcement was made late Wednesday in a press release from the NHA board of commissioners which said that Yazzie’s last day will be Friday.

The release said the board plans to appoint an interim CEO in the next few days who will lead the organization until a permanent replacement is named.

Yazzie has been head of NHA for the past seven years and has been under fire since a series of articles came out in the Arizona Republic in January sharply accusing NHA officials of mismanaging millions of dollars in funds.

Navajo Times | Donovan Quintero
The Navajo Housing Authority’s office sits across the street from an NHA development.

Although a number of the points in the articles have been shown to be inaccurate, Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye said on Wednesday he still felt that Yazzie had failed to meet the needs of the Navajo people and needed to be replaced.

One of the results of the Republic articles was a decision in May by the Navajo Nation Council to replace the old NHA board with a new one with directives to take whatever steps are necessary to get NHA back on the right track. The press release said Yazzie’s stepping down “is the first step of many in rebuilding the NHA organization.”

“The bottom line is NHA must and will build new homes and the new board of commissioners is committed to fulfilling this duty,” the release said, adding that to do this, the decision was made to get new leadership at the helm of the agency and to complete a reorganization.