Full Profile · From the Interview Record
Vince James
≈ 4 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 →
Candidate Snapshot
Background & Why They’re Running
See the topics below for what was covered in the interview.
Where Vince James Stands
Each topic below is drawn from the interview — the question Cal asked, and a short summary of the answer, generated by AI from the interview recording.
Experience & Chapter Priorities
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.
Self-Assessment & the Committee Structure
Cal asked: How would you rate your performance as a two-term delegate, A through F?
James rated himself high, explaining that economic-development items sit with the Resource Development Committee while he chairs HEHSC, so the real venue to weigh in is Naabik'íáti' (the Council's committee of the whole), where delegates must research each piece of legislation as it is introduced.
Economic Development & the Five-Year Plan
Cal asked: What is economic development to you?
James framed it as small but real improvements — a C-store might employ only ten people, some commuting half an hour, but it is still progress for a community. He stressed that each site differs (a leaking tank, EPA cleanup, inflation since a ten-year-old estimate) and that the five-year economic plan is set in law and politically driven.
Business Law, the NBOA & Government Reform
Cal asked: Should the business law change? What is your view of the Navajo Business Opportunity Act?
James wants the Nation's business law (he pointed to the long-running Title 17 rewrite) re-ratified and amended to make it easier for Navajo families to start and keep businesses, and only partly agrees with the NBOA — questioning its design and short lease-renewal windows. On reform, he said the Government Development Office has done extensive public hearings and the people should decide what government they want.
The Missing $24 Million
Cal asked: You were on the Council that approved the $700 million package with the $24 million in it. How did that happen?
James said he voted in favor under the Nez administration and that things changed under the new administration. He stressed that the Council allocates funds and entrusts the executive branch to spend them correctly, and that separation of powers limits what delegates can do about an executive-branch employee. He suggested the legislative branch should join the 1-6-4 contract-review process so council learns where the money goes.
Health Care & 638 Oversight
Cal asked: You chair HEHSC — do you support 638, and where is the oversight?
James supports 638 and called it helpful, but flagged that 638 entities report only once a year and said that is a problem — he would push for quarterly or at least semi-annual reporting and tie 638 agreements to four-year council terms so each new committee starts with a clean orientation. On the billing-fraud concerns, he said the matter had already been prosecuted federally, and acknowledged qualified oversight is hard to recruit at Navajo salaries, with housing compounding it.
Topics in the Interview
- Experience & Chapter Priorities
- Self-Assessment & the Committee Structure
- Economic Development & the Five-Year Plan
- Business Law, the NBOA & Government Reform
- The Missing $24 Million
- Health Care & 638 Oversight