Civic Academy

Prevention vs Damage Control

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The cost of reacting after systems fail.

Core idea

Healthy systems prevent predictable problems.

Weak systems spend money on attorneys, investigations, consultants, audits, and crisis management after damage occurs.

Costs of system failure

Money: litigation, investigations, consultants.

Time: delayed projects, years of appeals.

Trust: citizens disengage.

Talent: good employees leave.

Opportunity: money cannot be spent on housing, nurses, teachers, or infrastructure.

Signature questions

What preventable problem is costing Navajo Nation the most money today? How would you prevent it? What problem do we keep paying to fix instead of preventing?

Drafted with AI assistance from public sources and reviewed by volunteers — not yet line-checked against the current Code, and laws change. Verify anything that matters with the Code or office itself; spot an error? Tell us.

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Quick check

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Fixing the well after the community got sick is…

Right.

The prevention question for any candidate:

Right — before beats after.

Goes with: Hidden Obstacles · Why People Stay Sick

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