LaVonne Tsosie — Interview Q&A
≈ 6 min read · or listen, or skim the bold lines
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: A Relocatee's Story & a Three-Branch Career
Cal asked: Who are you and what's your experience?
Tsosie is a Navajo-Hopi relocatee — moved to the New Lands (Nahatá Dziil), giving up her land for a house and $5,000 — who went on to a long career across all three branches: council staff from 1989, the Navajo Housing Authority, the prosecutor's office, work under President Russell Begaye, and chapter secretary and commissioner roles. She holds a political science degree and attended law school.
The First Relocatee Delegate
Cal asked: Why are you running?
Tsosie wants to be the first council delegate who is a relocatee, arguing the Nation has done nothing for relocatees in 35 years while benefiting from their land and money. She points to overcrowding — families stuck on one acre with no provision for children and grandchildren — as proof the community has been overlooked.
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?
Relocatee Issues: Housing, Jobs & Roads
Cal asked: What are the biggest issues in your area?
Her core issues are housing, the lack of jobs, and stalled economic development for relocatees, along with long-delayed infrastructure like the N403 road from Sanders to Allentown that communities have raised for decades without action.
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?
Accountability & the $24 Million ZenniHomes
Cal asked: What happened with accountability?
Tsosie says the $24 million was allocated to her own community under a prior council resolution, and that she personally toured the ZenniHomes facility. She says she's been “blacklisted” by the president's office for demanding answers about where the money went. As a council delegate she would petition the speaker for a special session to get a full status report and bring in the special prosecutor for a full accounting — while questioning who would pay for that prosecutor. She's also frustrated that council accepts agency reports without truly hearing them and doesn't respond to community emails.
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: What's your stance on 638 health care?
Tsosie is candid that she'd need to do her homework on 638 specifics, but she raises real concerns — the local 638 clinic lacks services (she was sent to Fort Defiance for an ultrasound) and should be built up toward a hospital, and the federal treaty obligation to provide care must hold. She doubts the Nation is yet ready to run its own hospitals given the shortage of seasoned doctors.
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?
Reforming How Council Works
Cal asked: What would you change about the Council itself?
A self-described close reader of legislation who votes her conscience rather than following the board, Tsosie would remove the public vote board that invites bloc voting, rescind the virtual-meeting rule so delegates attend in person, push for a transition briefing for new delegates, and even question the “Honorable” title — arguing delegates are public servants first.
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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