Christopher D. White is a former police officer and current college student who serves as a chapter president (running on “Power Back to the People”), from the Ganado area, with work experience in both the IHS and 638 health systems. His interview with Cal Nez covered leadership and respect between the branches, education, health care and 638 oversight, veterans, the enterprises, and economic development. Below are the main topics from the interview — the key question Cal asked on each, short summaries of White'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 Christopher D. White’s profile. This page is a nonpartisan summary; the Diné Civic Center does not endorse any candidate.
White's theme is foundation-first — you don't build walls without good footing — and respect and “lineage” between leaders; he stressed that delegates aren't in Window Rock for self-gain, and that the public loses faith when leaders don't get along.
A strong supporter of Diné College and NTU, White would advocate at the high-school level to keep students on the Nation, keep tuition dollars here to hire more professors, and insist that college board members be accredited and credentialed rather than chosen by popularity.
Having worked in both IHS and 638 systems, White backs the 638 concept — noting IHS is slow to hire — but said facilities must be held to CMS surveys and corrected when patient complaints or wrongdoing surface; he'd leave management to credentialed 638 executive teams while pushing oversight through CMS, the boards, and HEHSC. On the 638 billing-fraud concerns, he wants to see the facts and data, and act.
The son of a code talker, White would bring services local — building on the Ganado GVO's Navajo veteran representative — by pursuing grants and partnering with local hospitals' behavioral-health counselors and traditional practitioners.
White pointed to the Ganado post office nearly closing and the Navajo Joe's failure as symptoms of a broken procurement process and a Regional Business Development Office that “controls everything”; he would let businesses become 501c and run themselves, and put credentialed, business-minded people in the right positions — educating himself on business development where needed.
White correctly described Title II as the post-1989 correction to a chairman holding too much power and leaving the legislative branch out, and tied the Office of Government Development to giving power back to the people. On the NBOA — preference for Navajo and Native businesses — he said it seems followed among those he knows but is hard to gauge given how few businesses exist; he'd support moving toward Navajo-owned requirements, possibly with consultant help for startups.
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: