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The full text of this Navajo Times news article follows:

Attempt by NHLC members to misuse $2.7 million halted
"Commissioners planned to each receive $250,000.00 for own use"
By Marley Shebala Navajo Times Staff (January 14, 1999)
URL: http://www.navajotimes.com/

WINDOW ROCK - An attempt by the outgoing Navajo-Hopi Land Commission to stop $1.5 million for construction of homes on Hopi Partition Lands was stamped illegal by the Navajo Nation Justice Department on Tuesday.

According to the tribal Justice Department the Navajo-Hopi Land Commission, which consists of council delegates from chapters affected by the Navajo-Hopi- US Land Dispute, recalled the resolution appropriating the $1.5 million on January 11.

That was about three months after they approved it. Justice Department attorney Sharon M. Noel stated.

Noel stated that the NHLC lacked established procedures for recalling the $1.5 million resolution and so the funds must continue to be expended for the construction of homes on the HPL.

She stated that agreements also were already made between the NHLC and the Navajo Nation Housing Services to speed up the building of homes on the HPL because of winter weather conditions.

Noel stated that $2.7 million in the resolution appropriating the $1.5 million should be halted.

She stated that NHLC appropriated the $2.7 million for 18 identified chapters affected by the land dispute, but that the $2.7 million included a limit of $250,000 for community projects for each Navajo Hopi Land Commission member.

Noel reiterated that the $1.5 million went through the legally required tribal signature review process and the $2.7 million did not.

She stated that the "purported" approval of the $2.7 million may violate conflict of interest law for council delegates.

The determination by the commissioners to divide up the $250,000 per representative reasonably creates the appearance of or opportunity for private gain and the loss of independence in funding Navajo Rehabilitation Trust Fund projects objectively, therefore, violating Navajo Nation law," Noel stated.

The attempt by the NHL to recall the resolution dealing with the $1.7 million and $2.7 million began after the council's Government Services Committee asked the Navajo Nation Finance Department to temporarily suspend all expenditures of the Navajo Rehabilitation Trust Fund on January 7.

The Government Services Committee stated on January 7 in a memorandum to the tribal Financial Department their request for a moratorium on further spending of the NRTF was based on their review of an audit of the NHLC office.

The GSC stated that the NHLC officers reported to them that members of the NHLC allocated $250,000 for community projects.

Navajo Nation Chief Legislative Counsel Steven Boos in a Tuesday memorandum to Navajo Nation Council Delegate Ervin Keeswood, who served as GSC chairperson, stated that $1.5 million for replacement housing on the HPL was prioritize, well-documented and had legal tribal review.

Boos further stated that the $2.7 million, which was divided equally among the commissioners, was inappropriate because the projects were not prioritize or documented or legally analyzed.

He stated that the two plans for how funds are to be appropriated from the Trust Fund are very strict and the $1.5 million met those standards.

"I also conclude that the appropriation of $2.7 million to the commissioners is in violation of the governing documents of the Trust Fund and is therefore invalid," Boos stated.

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The Independent
January 20, 1998
Audit: Big problems with Navajo-Hopi Land office
By Martin Salazar, Dine' Bureau

WINDOW ROCK - The Navajo-Hopi Land Commission office seems to have major problems.

Among other things, auditors believe commissioners of the Navajo-Hopi Land Commission may have divided a $1.3 million appropriation among their own districts - giving each commissioner nearly $127,000 for community improvement projects.

The October audit also charged poor management led to an ineffective use of funds, that office employees misused emergency financial assistance for unauthorized purposes and failed to implement recommendations made by tribal auditors in 1994.

Roman Bitsuie, executive director of the Navajo-Hopi Land Commission office, was unavailable for comment Tuesday. But in documents submitted to auditors, he proposed the transfer of day-to-day management of the Navajo Rehabilitation Trust Fund to the Division of Finance.

The special audit was conducted by the Navajo Auditor General's office because of a June 1997 request from the tribal Council's Government Services Committee.

The report, forwarded to Bitsuie on Dec. 16, noted "the ineffective management of Commission Office employee activities contributed to the lack of controls over program operations."

The problems noted in the report included:

• failure to set priorities for funding community improvement projects
• poor documentation of the methods used to select recipients of housing materials
• noncompliance with provisions of the Office of Navajo-Hopi Indian Relocation grant agreement

The auditors said that during July 1995 budget discussions on a $1.3 million appropriation for community improvement projects, the office failed to evaluate or prioritize the community project proposals received as of June 1994.

Because the project proposals were not evaluated by the office, the community improvement projects were funded without effective planning, the audit showed.

"The commissioners identified projects with costs totaling approximately $9 million for funding from the $1.3 million budget," the report stated. "This clearly shows that the budget is not sufficient to fund the 28 projects. Instead of evaluating the 28 projects and selecting the feasible projects that the budget could sufficiently fund, the Commission approved to fund all 28 projects."

The commission chairperson told auditors that the commission's intent was to obtain matching funds from other sources to cover budget deficits, according to the report.

But, the report said, "with no firm commitment of matching funds from other funding sources the budget which was available since Feb. 1, 1996 showed little financial activity." As of Sept. 30 1998, only $447,678 out of $1.3 million had been used.

"This shows ineffective use of available funds," the report stated.

The report also criticized the office for inadequately documenting its methods for deciding who would receive housing materials.

"The Commission Office's poor documentation in selecting the recipients of housing materials results in no evidence that the recipients were those applicants who need the housing materials the most," the report said. The housing materials fund contained $400,000. As of Sept. 30, $176,450 had been spent.

Although they were unable to provide documentation, office staff told auditors that housing surveys were conducted on the Navajo Partition Lands and Bennett Freeze areas to identify potential applicants for housing assistance. Staff members told auditors that three consulting firms were paid more than $270,000 to conduct the surveys. Referrals and priority lists were also received from impacted chapters.

"The surveys and chapter referrals were used in conducting assessments to identify applicants who meet the Commission Office selection criteria of poor health, dilapidated and/or overcrowding housing conditions," the report said. "However, the Commission Office could not provide documentation that assessments were conducted which enabled the identification of eligible applicants."

Staff members told auditors a disorganized filing system contributed to the misplaced or lost assessment records.

Auditors also evaluated the folders of the 11 recipients of housing materials' assistance from the Navajo Partition Land area.

"We found three applicants were recommended to the Commission for approval, although, there no application forms or documentation showing the clients met the selection criteria," the report said. "Further, the Commission Office processed the purchase requisitions for housing materials of the clients whose files are incomplete."

The audit also noted noncompliance with some provisions of the Office of Navajo-Hopi Indian Relocation grant agreement. The grant agreement sets a limit on how much money can be provided for emergency financial assistance. The agreement, however, allows the office to exceed that limit, provided that written justification is provided to the ONHIR.

Auditors randomly selected 15 emergency assistance applications to determine whether the office was following the agreement.

"Our examination showed that 10 of the financial assistance awards exceeded the ceiling limit," the report states. "However, except for one application, there was no evidence that the Commission Office submitted justification letters for the nine applications that exceeded the ceiling limit." Staff members told auditors that verbal justification was provided to the ONHIR, according to the report.

The audit also revealed that the office jeopardized additional funds by neglecting to submit a required report to the ONHIR.

"The grant agreement requires the Commission Office to submit to the ONHIR a summary report of expenditures at the end of the term of the grant or upon complete expenditure of funds," the report stated. "The grant agreement further stipulates that the approval of subsequent grants is contingent upon the submission of the summary report."

The report states that the $20,000 grant was fully expended as of September 30, 1997, yet the office has not submitted the report.

"Consequently, the Commission Office has not received an additional grant from the ONHIR," the report stated.

The audit also uncovered problems with the office allocating emergency financial assistance funds for unauthorized purposes. ****The emergency fund is supposed to be used to help Navajo Hopi Partition Land residents pay for grazing permit fees and impoundment fees. But auditors found that the fund was also used to provide: educational assistance, mortgage payment/rental assistance, funeral expense assistance and burnout assistance.****

"The Commission Office represented that they have been providing the financial being questioned in prior years and did not realize that they were not included in its detailed budget," the report stated.