THE IDEA UNDERNEATH IT ALL

The people are the boss

A · In their own words   Every quote on this page is verbatim from a candidate interview in the archive. How we verify →

This whole site runs on one idea. We did not invent it, and we did not put it in anyone’s mouth. The people running for office said it themselves, again and again, without being asked: on the Navajo Nation, the people are the boss. The leaders are the servants. They work for us.

They told us themselves

Ask a room full of candidates who holds the power, and you hear the same answer in different voices. Mikhail Ganadonegro put it plainly: “we’re public servants, where our people are the bosses.” Christopher D. White said it to the voters directly — “You’re going to be the boss of every one of these folks” — and told them to stop looking up to anyone. Shaquille Begay drew the same line: “you’re the boss. They’re going to be our employees.”

That is not our slogan. It is the record. When the people who want to lead keep telling you that you are the one in charge, believe them — and then hold them to it.

So the work is ours too

If the people are the boss, then the work does not belong only to whoever wins in July. It belongs to all of us — the people, the chapters, and the leaders, together. And there is plenty to do right now, reform or no reform. The candidates said that too. Cornelia Carm Wagoner named what it takes: “roll up their sleeves and get to work and finish this government.” Debbie Nez-Manuel made it a promise — “I’m willing to roll up my sleeves and do this work.”

That is the invitation this whole project is built around. Not to sit back and grade our leaders from a distance, but to pick up the tools that are already ours and get to work strengthening what we have.

This is the spirit behind the Covenant — we bring the facts and the tools, and every decision stays where it belongs: with you.