Employees allege threats from Shelly

Posted by Alastair Lee Bitsóí | Jan 23, 2015 | Politics |

WINDOW ROCK

A political appointee and three permanent employees say that Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly is threatening them via termination.

These tribal personnel include Charlene Jeff, director for the Division of Natural Resources, and three tribal bureaucrats that hold supervisor positions at the Navajo Historic Preservation Department.

Jeff and the three employees are alleged to create a hostile working environment among four other employees that also work under the Historic Preservation Department, or HPD. The HPD is a department under the Division of Natural Resources.

But, according to Deswood Tome, special aide to Shelly, they’re not being terminated from their jobs.

“There’s no firing,” Tome told the Navajo Times Thursday.

Tome added that the personnel complaints that were reported to Shelly Wednesday were addressed at that time. He explained that Jeff, the political appointee, is responsible for alleviating what appear to be recurrent personnel issues between factions in the historic preservation office.

“To my understanding, Charlene Jeff is working right now to resolve matters for a cooperative working environment for the job to get done,” Tome said.

Though Tome stated to the Times that the employees are not being terminated, they still feel threatened by both Shelly and Tome.

Jeff, who was appointed to head the Division of Natural Resources in September 2014, said she supports the employees that are being threatened by termination.

“The employees have rights,” she said, before adding, “I work for the people and serve at the pleasure of the president. I don’t work for Deswood Tome.”

Jeff said that Tome had invited the four HPD staff, which has continuously complained of her leadership as well as the acting director for HPD, Ron Maldonado, in a separate meeting Wednesday.

From their meeting with the president, Jeff learned that four employees would be let go. Maldonado and two others that hold supervisory positions in HPD, as well as Jeff herself are up for possible termination.

“My supervisors for these employees have tried to work with them,” Jeff said, explaining that the hostility in HPD has resulted in the loss of grant revenue crucial to its operations.

The four employees that approached Shelly and Tome aren’t doing their jobs and are almost always surfing social media sites like Facebook, Jeff added.

And unlike them, the employees being threatened by termination work and are important components to the HPD team, Jeff explained.

“The staff are going to file ethics charges against (Shelly) and Tome,” Jeff said, noting there is personnel protocol that should be followed.