Andy Nez — Interview Q&A
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B · From the record Summaries are drawn from Cal Nez’s interview. Quotations are not published until checked against the recording. How we verify →
Answer summaries in the site’s words, drawn from the recorded Cal Nez interview (Politics on the Navajo Nation, 2026) — not quotations and not the candidate’s own wording. Their exact words are in the video, linked from their profile.
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Background & Six-Part Platform
Cal asked: What's your platform this term?
An incumbent on the 25th Council (HEHSC member, former classroom teacher) representing Fort Defiance, Sawmill, Crystal, and Red Lake, Nez runs on six priorities: recycling initiatives, “villages”/housing, urban development, amending the education code (Title 10), protecting natural resources, and community-based projects.
“Villages”: Housing & Continuum of Care
Cal asked: What's the housing vision?
Nez wants to build “villages” — small communities where seniors, people in substance-abuse recovery, veterans, and disabled relatives can receive a continuum of care — funded in part by the roughly $14 million in delegate region funds from the $293 million line-item-veto package.
Not sure how to weigh this answer? The five lenses, in brief ▾
- Transparency & accountability: who is responsible, and how would progress be measured and verified?
- Root cause: does this address the underlying problem, or only the symptom?
- Culture — K’é / Hózhǫ: does it strengthen kinship, restore balance, honor future generations?
- Collaboration: who would need to work together — and does the answer name them?
- Prevention vs. damage control: does it prevent harm, or only respond after it?
Urban Development & “Embassy” Venues
Cal asked: What's your urban-development plan?
He'd expand the Nation into Albuquerque, Phoenix, and other urban spaces with “embassy-like” venues using the land-acquisition fund — places to grow businesses, expand Diné College, and reinvest the dollars Navajo citizens already spend off-reservation.
Not sure how to weigh this answer? The five lenses, in brief ▾
- Transparency & accountability: who is responsible, and how would progress be measured and verified?
- Root cause: does this address the underlying problem, or only the symptom?
- Culture — K’é / Hózhǫ: does it strengthen kinship, restore balance, honor future generations?
- Collaboration: who would need to work together — and does the answer name them?
- Prevention vs. damage control: does it prevent harm, or only respond after it?
Amending the Education Code (Title 10)
Cal asked: Why amend Title 10?
A former teacher, Nez is working to amend Title 10, the 2005 Navajo Nation Education Code, arguing education has changed dramatically in 20 years and the code needs to keep pace.
Not sure how to weigh this answer? The five lenses, in brief ▾
- Transparency & accountability: who is responsible, and how would progress be measured and verified?
- Root cause: does this address the underlying problem, or only the symptom?
- Culture — K’é / Hózhǫ: does it strengthen kinship, restore balance, honor future generations?
- Collaboration: who would need to work together — and does the answer name them?
- Prevention vs. damage control: does it prevent harm, or only respond after it?
Government Reform & the President-Council Conflict
Cal asked: Where do you stand on government reform and the gridlock?
Nez wants the Office of Government Development to move faster — established 34-plus years ago and still unfinished — and revealed he pulled its funding two years ago over carryovers — “when you do carryovers, that means you’re not executing what you said you would do.” On the law requiring the president to appear before council, he frames it as ensuring accountability (division directors act for the president) and says missed State of the Nation addresses invited the Title 2 amendments.
Not sure how to weigh this answer? The five lenses, in brief ▾
- Transparency & accountability: who is responsible, and how would progress be measured and verified?
- Root cause: does this address the underlying problem, or only the symptom?
- Culture — K’é / Hózhǫ: does it strengthen kinship, restore balance, honor future generations?
- Collaboration: who would need to work together — and does the answer name them?
- Prevention vs. damage control: does it prevent harm, or only respond after it?
Health Care & the 638 System
Cal asked: Do you support 638 health care?
On HEHSC, Nez supports 638 self-determination — noting 638 facilities like Tséhootsooí Medical Center weathered federal funding cuts far better than Indian Health Service (IHS) — but takes a “short pause” on too much autonomy, which can invite embezzlement, nepotism, and board misspending. He says the Nation isn't yet ready to run its own multi-million-dollar health system. (Elsewhere in the interview, on education, he invokes the federal treaty obligation to students in his dealings with the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE).)
Not sure how to weigh this answer? The five lenses, in brief ▾
- Transparency & accountability: who is responsible, and how would progress be measured and verified?
- Root cause: does this address the underlying problem, or only the symptom?
- Culture — K’é / Hózhǫ: does it strengthen kinship, restore balance, honor future generations?
- Collaboration: who would need to work together — and does the answer name them?
- Prevention vs. damage control: does it prevent harm, or only respond after it?
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