The Navajo Council is now on over-ride.
DELEGATE DWIGHT WITHERSPOON
I turned in Hard Rock resolution opposing over-ride and I call for suspension of floor rules to allow debate.
JONATHAN NEZ
Chief Legislative Counsel Levon Henry has confirmed that I have a conflict of interest and so i ask to be excused. (Nez then leaves the Council chambers.)
LEONARD TSOSIE
all these documents are coming out of chief legislative counsel at the last minute and it’s like the chief legislative counsel going against over-ride. and i haven’t seen the memo that was given to Jonathan Nez. the conflict of interest if the identification of a conflict. if he votes for the over-ride, he would be more of a gentleman. it is inappropriate. and delegate alton shepherd came out of left field with another request to chief legislative counsel.
SPEAKER PRO TEMP LORENZO BATES
note that the memo says attorney-client privilege and that it was not handed out earlier because of that reason. nez and begaye asked if they would be conflict. i can’t tell them if they are in conflict as speaker. and before memo came out, begaye decided that he was conflicted. they made that decision and they asked if they conflicted.
MEL BEGAY
as vice president candidate, he said he would be conflicted. and he seconded motion at Kayenta Chapter for a chapter resolution so is he show-boating?
SPEAKER PRO TEMP BATES
If seconding party is Nez then Nez has a problem.
MOTION BY CHARLES DAMON AND SECOND BY WALTER PHELPS to bring Over-Ride to Council floor. it’s 4:02 p.m.
LEONARD TSOSIE
This is an important decision. it represents healing. there has been a lot of hurt between families. it’s the right thing to do. to help me as my agent is Dr. Karletta Chief and 20 minutes for presentation.
KARLETTA CHIEF
today i come before you and speak to you about fluency requirement. the navajo people trusted navajo nation for certification of qualified candidates for 30 days. election office didn’t define fluency and each candidate determined own fluency, which was done for years. fluency is not term that is quantified. even in navajo language there is no definition. there is definition of novice and expert. but without definition of fluency/proficiency, candidates should be treated equally and fairly for same position. during 30 day period, in public meetings, and five presidential forums, hundreds of people heard the 17 candidates answer questions and the candidates had no reason to hid language fluency/proficiency. no evidence has been shown that all candidates fluent. we can look at two presidential forums to show amount of Navajo language fluency/proficiency. for crownpoint, 7 of 49 percent were asked in navajo. 8 candidates responded below 50 percent. deschene spoke more navajo than other candidates at two of presidential forums. it was not until two losing candidates filed grievances and that losing candidate defined fluency without analysis by Navajo language experts and the people. According to her analysis, the more uneducated Navajos speak more Navajo and the more educated Navajos speak less Navajo. The new generation of younger navajos have taken up Chief Manuelito’s advice. Chris Deschene is a example of that.
