Charlie Smith Jr. is a U.S. military veteran and former police officer from a well-known Navajo broadcasting family, running for the Cameron–Gray Mountain–Bird Springs Navajo Nation Council seat. His interview with Cal Nez ranged across veterans, the Window Rock conflict, and his signature issue, business development. Below are the main topics from the interview — the key question Cal asked on each, short summaries of Smith's answers in our own words, and follow-ups a voter might still want answered.
Watch or read the full interview, and see the scorecard, on Charlie Smith Jr.’s profile. This page is a nonpartisan summary; the Diné Civic Center does not endorse any candidate.
Smith is a U.S. military veteran and former police officer from a well-known Navajo broadcasting family, running for the Cameron–Gray Mountain–Bird Springs seat. He raises cattle and says he lived through the 1989 riots, which shaped his view of allegiance and the rule of law.
Among the long-standing issues he wrote down, Smith puts area road conditions first.
Smith calls veterans a dual responsibility of the federal government and the Nation; PTSD is real — his son returned from Desert Storm with it. He'd encourage homecoming ceremonies and faith-based or traditional counseling, direct veterans to services, and explore waiving home-site-lease hurdles to get them homes.
Smith knows Title II (the post-1989 checks and balances) and says it doesn't clearly define the powers of president, vice president, speaker, and delegates; the branches aren't equally balanced, and this year's council “demand” that the absent president appear was a demand, not democracy. He says delegates hold the ultimate checks and balances, it comes down to courage and integrity, and he'd support relinquishing some presidential power to make the branches truly equal.
Smith's signature issue: only about 1,963 fully Navajo-owned businesses exist while more than 91,000 residents commute to border towns for work. He ties the gap to dual taxation and grazing-permit and home-site/business-site lease barriers — you can't run a business from a home-site lease — and would fix grazing-permit issues to open home sites, business sites, and alternative energy (solar, wind, hydro), negotiating with the federal trust responsibility.
Smith frames the treaty as having traded Navajo self-sufficiency for federal promises, warns that federal funding will shrink, and says the Nation must take risks, reform its tax codes, and reduce dependency before treaties or protections are pulled.
Topics a voter in this district might still want to hear about:
Not a judgment of this candidate — just what a specific, substantive answer includes, so you can weigh any candidate’s response: