BY COLLEEN KEANE
SPECIAL TO THE TIMES
ALBUQUERQUE — It is all too common that people move off the rez to the city in hopes of a better life for themselves and their families.
But for one young mother from the Alamo Navajo community, it was the other way around.
Since she fears she may be retaliated against for speaking out about her experience moving back home, the young mother is referred to as Carolina in this story.
Tucked away in the sprawling mountainous terrain south of Grants, the Navajo satellite community of Alamo is separated by hundreds of miles from the Nation’s capital in Window Rock.
Some say it’s known as Alamo, Tíís Tsoh, after a big cottonwood tree that marked a spring where the people originally settled.
“I moved back from the city, because there’s resources,” said Carolina, referring to programs for education, housing, and family services that have been established for the community of about 2,000 residents.
Besides, she added. “I love my community. It’s where my heart is.”
But soon after Carolina moved back to Alamo with her husband and school-aged children, they found that there were more roadblocks than open road to get resources and services they needed.
First, she said she tried to get her Navajo Nation scholarship application processed through the chapter. Following all the minute instructions, she completed the paperwork and left it with a chapter representative, as instructed.
When time went by and Carolina hadn’t heard anything, she went to the chapter to check on her application, but was told it was nowhere to be found.
Alarmed, she asked, “How can that be?” She worried that in addition to missing out on a scholarship that she needed to return to school, her identity could be stolen.
“All of my information was on those papers,” she said.
She noted that some time later her application surfaced at the chapter house, but by that time deadlines had passed.
“This kind of setback is a huge deterrent to students trying to go on to higher education,” she said.
Then, hoping to fix up their home so that it would be weatherproof for the winter, the family applied for housing repair funds.
The chapter officials told the family to get quotes from different stores for plywood, lumber, installation, and roofing.
“We got the quotes and turned them in with proof of tribal membership and voter registration,” she recalled.
But then she was told that there wasn’t any money available.
“When you ask for support, you just get the runaround and in the end the door gets shut on you,” she said.
Carolina’s family isn’t the only one feeling left out.
“A lot of families need help, but because the chapter (officials) act this way, they don’t try to get any,” she stressed.
As reported in a Navajo Times story on Dec. 8, a disabled elder at Alamo went through similar hoops when trying to get help to fix his roof that leaked whenever it rained.
During the Dec. 20 chapter meeting, tribal member Hotona Secatero handed Navajo Nation Council Delegate Norman Begay (Alamo/Ramah/To’hajiilee) a letter written to him on behalf of dozens of community members. Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye was copied on the letter.
The two-page, single-spaced correspondence expresses concerns about mismanagement of funds, meetings behind closed doors, questionable election practices, failure to report to the community, and nepotism that spills over from the chapter to the school board and vice versa.
Referring to then Chapter President Stanley Herrera and Vice President Earl Apachito, who also serve as school board members, the letter reads, “Conflicts have arisen from these two officials serving both as chapter officials and as school board members, such as mismanagement of funds, failure to serve in the best interest of the Alamo Navajo community, denial of services and proper conduct of elections.”
Giving an example, the community dispatch questions why poll officials in the primary election included Herrera’s relatives and why tribal officials’ spouses work for the school board.
“This is a clear violation of the Navajo Nation Election code,” claim the community authors.
The letter also puts a spotlight on the failure of the tribal officials to keep the community informed noting a Nov. 22 school board meeting.
“The meeting was a closed door meeting all day,” per the letter to Delegate Begay.
“We are also deeply concerned as previous attempts to question and request the Alamo Navajo School Board of their fiscal expenditures as they are reluctant and refuse to address this issue with the Alamo Navajo Community members,” the letter stated.
According to the letter, it’s the community members’ understanding that meetings are to be open and conducted at times and places convenient to the public, except in certain circumstances like disciplinary actions.
In addition to bringing the complaint letter with them to the chapter meeting, community members also brought a resolution requesting that a complete forensic report be conducted on the Alamo Navajo School Board.
In a community vote, Resolution # ANC 12-20-2016 passed 33 in favor, 13 opposed, and 1 abstaining.
On the scanned copy provided to the Navajo Times, Council Delegate Begay signed off on the resolution, but Herrera and Apachito did not.
The community request for a forensic audit of school board finances comes on the heels of an audit of chapter finances conducted by the Navajo Nation Auditor General’s office.
The chapter audit found that there were 14 unresolved issues that include: lack of documentation for monies spent on purchases and direct services; incomplete inventory lists; unreconciled bank statements; uninsured property; failure to deposit federal taxes in a timely manner; and failure to provide funds for needed services, like housing repairs.
The issues carried over from 2013 when the Chapter’s first corrective action plan went into effect.
Navajo Nation Bill No. 0386-16, sponsored by Delegate Begay, accepts the Auditor General’s findings, and approves a corrective action plan that includes financial sanctions.
It’s pending acceptance by the Budget and Finance Committee.
For now, Carolina and other Alamo residents concerned about transparency are on a wait list – waiting to see what response they get from tribal leaders in Window Rock and waiting to see if the new and not so new local officials do things differently.
Per a community source, Buddy Mexicano was inaugurated as Alamo chapter president taking over for Herrera; Angela Apachito as Secretary/Treasurer, with Earl Apachito remaining as Vice President.
Mexicano previously served as a chapter official.
Carolina said that she hopes that the incoming administration will be responsive to the people, like they were when she was growing up.
“I miss my old community, when the leaders were there for the people,” she said.
Herrera did not respond to phone messages left for him before deadline.
In a press release from the Office of the Speaker, Herrera stated that the chapter did not get the technical assistance from the Navajo Nation it needed to comply with the corrective action plan.