Constituent & Chapter Advocacy

Delegates are the bridge — they connect the chapters to Window Rock — and much of the frustration is money and projects that stall in between. Certification decides authority — a certified chapter can run more of its own leases, contracts, and funds; a non-certified one routes decisions back up.

Chapters 101 → —

A delegate’s job is two things at once: carry chapter priorities up to Window Rock, and unstick the money and projects that stall between the chapter and the central government — the ‘shovel-ready’ funds that somehow never get spent.

Certified / non-certified chapter — whether a chapter can run its own leases, contracts, and funds, or must route them up. LGA (Title 26) — the Local Governance Act — the law that sets what chapters can do. ‘Shovel-ready’ / stuck funds — money that’s appropriated but never actually spent on the ground. Chapter resolution — how a community formally sets a priority to carry upward.

Before asking what’s broken, it helps to know who’s even supposed to be in charge — the law, the referee, and the watchers. Why this matters →

What’s the law?Title 26 (the LGA) and the annual appropriations process govern how chapter priorities and funds move. Who regulates it? (the outside referee)Tribal oversight and audit over how chapter funds are tracked and spent. Who oversees it? (the inside watchers)The Council delegate, the Division of Community Development, and chapter officials.

Audit 101 → — What’s broken — and what candidates would fix · The chapter-to-Window Rock pipeline stalls, and money sits unspent — see below.

A starting map — confirm current laws and body names against the Nation’s official resources. General civic information, not legal advice.

• Stuck money. Funds get appropriated but sit unspent — the ‘shovel-ready’ problem.
• The local-level disconnect. Chapter priorities don’t reliably reach, or move through, Window Rock.
• Certification hurdles. Chapters that can’t certify stay dependent on the central government.
• Slow chapter-to-Window Rock. Getting anything through can take far too long.

What this costs: community projects that never break ground, funds that expire unspent, and residents who stop believing the system responds.

Read summaries of how they answered — each name links to that candidate’s full interview summary:

Andrienne Lister Cal asked: What local issues need attention?She points to projects that have languished — a fire station and law-enforcement modular buildings — and says delivering them is simply the job of a delegate who shows up.

Cornelia Carm Wagoner — Cal asked: How would you represent the chapters?She stressed serving the community first — in her words, the chapter house belongs to the people and delegates simply work for them — and flagged watered-down minutes and quorum problems as barriers to real representation.

Demetria Simms — Cal asked: How do you get money to the local level?Simms wants to ensure money reaches the local chapters rather than stalling, and ties fund flows to qualified administration rather than favoritism.

Gervana Begay — Cal asked: Why does allocated money go unspent?From her Office of the President and Vice President (OPVP) work, Begay details how capital-outlay and American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money sits unspent because chapters aren't “shovel-ready” — design, land withdrawal, and infrastructure each take months, so funds lapse at their termination dates — and she identifies minimal staffing as the root cause.

Marcella Yazzie — Cal asked: How would you fix the disconnect that keeps chapter projects from moving?Yazzie described the chain from chapter resolutions through ASC, ICIP, OMB, and procurement, and was candid that many people — including herself — lack full knowledge of it; she would commit to learning the policies and committees (HEHSC, RDC) within her first year.

Mikhail Ganadonegro — Cal asked: Which of your chapters are certified, and what does certification mean?He believed all his chapters are certified and described certification as a chapter overseeing its own funding, while openly inviting correction; he noted his home chapter (Tohajiilee) had discussed going under the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA).

Relinda M John — Cal asked: How many of your chapters are certified, and how would you help the rest?Only one of her six chapters is certified; she would review the others' books to find where they miss the five-management-system standard DCD requires, and work one-on-one with the chapter coordinators and DCD, since much of it comes down to accounting and documentation.

Vince James — Cal asked: Tell us about your council experience — how many terms, which committees — and your platform.James is finishing his second term (seeking a third) and chairs HEHSC, having earlier served on Law & Order. He described a long list of chapter projects in varying stages — ARPA, RRR, CHSN, UUFB, chapter-allocation, housing-discretionary, CIP, and state funds — and tied them back to elders, veterans, the disabled, children, and community beautification.

Zachariah George — Cal asked: What's the difference between certified and uncertified chapters?From his work under the Ben Shelley administration, George explained certified chapters run their own local government under the five-management system and AFOG, while uncertified chapters operate under Window Rock's policies; he recalled helping chapters working through certification and sanction issues.

Only candidates interviewed by Cal Nez appear, and only where the topic came up. A blank isn’t a mark against anyone — interviews weren’t standardized, so coverage isn’t comparable across seats.

Local priorities promised while the money sits stuck between the chapter and Window Rock — one pipeline failure behind many complaints. See the root — Accountability & Justice →

Where the community stands: collecting — tallies and best ideas publish with the weekly findings.

Not promises — numbers you could actually check a year in:

• Stuck or ‘shovel-ready’ funds actually released and spent.
• Chapters helped to certify under the LGA.
• The time from a chapter request to action in Window Rock.

• “How will you get my chapter’s stuck funds moving?”
• “Will you help us certify under the LGA — and how?”
• “How exactly will you carry our priorities to Window Rock?”

• Chapter Government & the LGA 101 →
• Title 2 & Title 26 →
• Audit & Performance Review 101 →

See who’s running and read their full interviews and profiles on the candidate list →, or line up their positions side by side in the comparison grid →.

Your part — do something with this. Read what a candidate said, ask them one of the questions above, and vote your own judgment. This is a conversation — keep it going.