Navajo Nation hiring officials after clearing housing board
GALLUP, N.M. — Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye is looking for new housing authority board members after the council voted to remove the previous board.
Begaye has received more than 30 applications and three unnamed candidates have already been selected, the Gallup Independent reported Monday.
"We want all new people," he said. "We don't want people that have served before. No politicians. We want a different group of people."
"In this administration we are not making favors. Not because you campaigned for me you are going to get a job," Begaye said.
The council voted 16-4 on Thursday in favor of removing the commissioners, although the emergency legislation had not yet been completed as of Sunday.
A congressional delegation believes the tribe's housing dollars were at risk because the housing authority failed to fulfill its mission, Begaye said.
Begaye criticized the board in a letter addressed to the previous commissioners, accusing them of abusing their power to favor friends and family by prioritizing the construction of their homes or by funding their personal projects.
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