The following is a letter that I emailed to some Navajo Nation Council lawmakers and members of the news media today, March 20.

Ya’at’eeh Abini/Good Morning,
This is my request to the Navajo Nation Council Delegates that are on my emailed list for the news media, who are also on this email list, to have access to the Navajo Nation Council session today, March 20, 2020, which is scheduled to start at 10 a.m.

Before the Council’s Naabik’iyati Committee’s meeting Wednesday, I also also asked for access, and I asked if the meeting would be live-streamed, which by the way is direct communication to the public, who are your constituents.

I was informed by the Council PIO Office before the meeting that the education center auditorium was still being set up and I would be notified about the status of live-streaming. I was also informed hat the meeting was running late.

I found out that the Naabik’iyati meeting had started and was not being live-streamed by another news reporter several hours after the 10 a.m. scheduled start of the meeting.

The PIO office provided a call-in number, which allowed me to listen until there was a great amount of feed-back during a presentation by Chief Legislative Counsel Bobroff. which is when Speaker Damon asked everyone to disconnect their phones and re-connect. I tried to re-connect twice but was unable to. I know that all Navajo Council, standing committees, commission meetings are voice recorded and so at this time, I am requesting a copy the Naabik’iyati March 18 meeting at DODE auditorium of the recording.

I am not making my request for access to publicly funded Navajo government meetings attended by public servants as a private Navajo Nation citizen, but as a journalist and photographer who holds the right of the Navajo people to know what their public servants are saying and doing in their name, especially with cases of confirmed COVID-19 jumping from three on Monday to 14 Thursday, with great respect.

Respectfully,
Marley Shebala
Gallup Independent Dine’ Bureau
Window Rock, Ariz.
928-730-2218 cell
928-810-7171 land phone