Demetria Simms is a U.S. military veteran running for a Northern Agency Navajo Nation Council seat. Her interview with Cal Nez centered on accountability, the three-branch government, and reforming the Nation's veterans administration. Below are the main topics from the interview — the key question Cal asked on each, short summaries of Simms'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 Demetria Simms’s profile. This page is a nonpartisan summary; the Diné Civic Center does not endorse any candidate.
Simms, a veteran who currently lives off the Navajo Nation, says she's watched from the sidelines and is running because delegates have real power to change laws; she wants to hold those positions accountable.
Simms calls the failing three-branch government the biggest issue — implemented in hope but not working. She doesn't see it disappearing, but says it could be undone, and she'd hold every office to actually doing its job.
Simms notes recent legislation added veterans to Title II for chapter-level recognition, and frames Title II as the basic structure of the government she'd work within.
She says attempts to report problems — through ethics and rules or other channels — go nowhere, and wants a reporting system that actually works.
A veteran herself, Simms says the federal government should care for veterans but service delivery fails — the VA sets up on the reservation and veterans don't come — and the Navajo Nation Veterans Administration, the only on-reservation program, isn't doing its due diligence. Northern Agency passed a no-confidence resolution against its executive director; she'd revamp the NNVA using its audits and qualified, non-nepotistic leadership.
Simms wants to ensure money reaches the local chapters rather than stalling, and ties fund flows to qualified administration rather than favoritism.
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: