Hospital rehab program

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Candidates throw hats in GMCS board race

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A permanent solution?

Jeff, of Albuquerque, seeks to represent eastern Navajo area

By Sonia Waraich Staff writer education@gallupindependent.com

GALLUP — The Gallup-McKinley County Schools Board of Education elections are fast approaching and the candidates who will be vying for the three open seats are locked in.

Notably, in District 4 board member Joe Menini will not be running for re-election and in District 5 Lynn Huenemann, who was appointed, will not seek election. Neither Menini nor Huenemann could be reached by phone for comment by publication time.

However, Sandra Jeff, of Albuquerque, who was appointed to the board earlier in the year, will be running to represent District 2 against two competitors, Freda Joe and Charles Long.

District 2 represents Catherine Miller

See GMCS race, Page 5

Begaye vows to protect Navajo water rights

By Marley Shebala Diné Bureau navajo1@gallupindependent.com

WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. — Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye vowed to protect the tribe’s land, water and its citizens at the 2016 Colorado River Water Users Association conference in Las Vegas last week.

Begaye made that promise in his remarks before a session on “Tracking the Waters: Reclamation and the Ten Tribes Partnership Tribal Water Study” Thursday.

“In the future the fight for water will be intense, the Navajo Nation will aggressively fight to protect our land, water and its people,” the president informed participants at the session, according to a Monday news release. “Securing water rights and water development projects are priorities of the Navajo Nation.”

See Water rights, Page 5

Cayla Nimmo/Independent

Executive Director of Behavioral Health Services Erika Hayes, right, talks with Jessica McKinney at the Rehoboth McKinley Christian Hospital addiction rehabilitation center in Gallup Tuesday.

Rehab program aims for meaningful results

By Kyle Chancellor

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Staff writer city@gallupindependent.com Twitter: @KylechanCity

ALLUP — Just over a year ago, Rehoboth McKinley Christian Health Care Services opened the doors of its inpatient drug and alcohol treatment program. Over the past six months, with new leadership and funding, the program has taken off and residents are seeing meaningful results.

“There really is something special going on here. Something is happening,” said Pernell Manuelito, a resident of the program who is working as the new patient advocate as a part of the 120-day work rehab program.

Manuelito came to the facility in April and began the intensive 90-day inpatient rehab program. But as he worked through his addiction, staff at the facility began to notice the way he was interacting and helping other residents around him.

After the first 60 days of treatment, Manuelito, like other residents, was given the option to begin working in the 20/20 program. This program allows residents to begin getting back into the routine of working a job while continuing their treatment — 20 hours a week of work and 20 hours a week of treatment.

As a graduate of the 90-day program, Manuelito helps residents through the most difficult part of the rehab process, the first 30 days, known as “blackout,” when residents deal with the most intense part of getting past their addiction.

Another graduate of the 90-day program, Bridgette Silva, said the programs have been essential in her life.

“I don’t even know if I would be surviving right now without the program,” Silva said.

Homeless from 2012 to 2015 and disabled from a serious car crash,

Cayla Nimmo/Independent

The education room in the Rehoboth McKinley Christian Hospital addiction rehabilitation center is used for meetings as well as General Educational Development classes offered through the center.

Silva began to use methamphetamine as a way to cope. But now Silva, about to celebrate a full year of sobriety, has found employment in the maintenance department of Rehoboth McKinley Christian Hospital and has a new outlook on life.

See A permanent solution, Page 5

Proposed sale of Cibola hospital hits a nerve New Shiprock school

By Kathy Helms Cibola County Bureau cibola@gallupindependent.com

GRANTS — Cibola County officials have proposed selling Cibola General Hospital, ostensibly to the hospital board rather than an outside entity.

Hospital officials and representatives from the city of Grants and Cibola County, along with interested citizens, had an informal meeting Dec. 9 at the hospital to lay their cards on the table.

“My goal and my interest in the whole thing is I want to see our hospital stay here and be operated by people who live here and want to be here and want the best for our community,” local businessman Ronny Pynes said. “I don’t want it pedaled to go out of town or somebody else to oversee it and manage it.”

Dr. Karl Gutierrez, who has served as a general surgeon since 1979 and became chief of staff at the hospital in 1988, recounted the hospital’s history.

“We have a nice little community, and back in the ‘50s they decided they were going to build us a hospital. The Candelarias donated the land. The mines and all of the people in the community had bake sales and we matched funds for one of the grants that was available, and for about $600,000 we built a hospital,” he said.

That hospital is now gone.

“Back around 1988-90, someplace in there, the uranium mines were slowing down and started to close and so we had a large indigent population,” Gutierrez said. “We were inundated because the people who had been going out of town for medical care were now coming to the hospital, and they had no insurance and no way of paying for it.”

Involving the county The state had set up a program to help hospitals with the indigent problem, but it had to be overseen by a government agency.

“We were some like $90,000 in the hole, which was horrendous to us back then. What we had to do was to have a fiscal intermediary that was a municipality,” Gutierrez said. “The county was the more sophisticated group at that particular time and we chose to interact with them.

“We interacted with the county and asked them to be our fiscal intermediary and they said absolutely not. They didn’t want the responsibility of owning the hospital facility. They didn’t want the responsibility of the debt if we were going to incur more debt,” he said. “They didn’t want the liability of being insurance carriers for retirement funds. They didn’t want anything to do with us.”

A group from the hospital board went to the County Commission and essentially begged them to lend the hospital the county name, he said.

“We would guarantee that they would

See Cibola hospital, Page 5

board enters Jan. 13

By Nathan J. Tohtsoni Shiprock Bureau navajo2@gallupindependent.com Twitter: @njtohtsoni

SHIPROCK — The Shiprock Associated Schools Inc. school board had issues this fall when three members were removed or resigned because of past drunken driving convictions.

The four-member board convened Tuesday in Shiprock for its next-to-last time before a new five-member board takes over.

In September, Department of Diné Education Superintendent Tommy Lewis stated it’s unethical to have school board members with alcohol-related police and court records. The school board had members

Leonard Anthony, Frank Smith and Kerlena Tso with prior DWI convictions.

Anthony resigned because of a DWI conviction in 1990, and the election office removed Smith and Tso for DWI convictions in 1988 and 2000, respectively.

In order to maintain a quorum, Nikki Begay, Nathaniel Ellison and Sara Jane White were appointed to join Dorothy Begaye and Eva B. Stokely as board members. White did not follow through as an appointee, but was victorious for a seat on the board in the November general election.

The school board will have

See Shiprock, Page 5

LOCAL

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GMCS race

Shiprock

Continued from Page 1 Elementary School, Crownpoint Elementary School, Crownpoint Middle School, Crownpoint High School and Tse’ Yi’ Gai’ High School.

There has been controversy surrounding Jeff’s appointment to the GMCS board after the departure of Titus Nez earlier in the year. An investigation conducted by the Independent found Jeff does not actually reside in the district she represents, which is required by state law.

That was reiterated to the board by

the New Mexico Public Education Department in its Aug. 24 letter which notes one of the allegations reported to it was that the school board appointed “a member to fill a vacancy on the Board who does not reside in the District and is thus ineligible to serve on the Board.”

The McKinley County Bureau of Elections was unavailable for comment by publication time regarding how a candidate’s residency is verified. Jeff was also unable to be reached by phone.

Meanwhile there are two contend-

ers for the District 4 seat, Indian Education Committee Vice President Brenda Chicharello and Christopher Mortensen.

District 4 represents Gallup High School, Juan de Oñate Elementary School, Lincoln Elementary School, Turpen Elementary School, Washington Elementary School, Chief Manuelito Middle School and David Skeet Elementary School.

District 5, which represents Miyamura High School, Gallup Middle School, Indian Hills Elementary School, Jefferson Elementary School,

Kennedy Middle School, Red Rock Elementary School, Rocky View Elementary School, Roosevelt Elementary School and Middle College High School, has the most contenders.

Candidates for District 5 include: Esther Macias, Carmen Radcliff, Gerald Anthony O’Hara, Amparo Beatty and Michael Schaaf.

As for the Zuni Public School District, only one contender apiece has emerged for positions 3 and 4, Jerome Haskie and Shelly Chimoni, respectively, while no one has filed to run for position 5.

A permanent solution Continued from Page 1

of the rehab facility or RMCH are also provided with transportation to and from work until they are able to afford a vehicle of their own.

“It really is the best thing for you and for the community,” Silva said of the program.

She said she enjoys “advertising” her sobriety in hopes of inspiring others to follow in her footsteps.

Local partners

The program Along with Manuelito and Silva, Erika Hayes, executive director of behavioral health services; Bill Camarota, the special projects director; and Gerald Watchman, the interim clinical director, all speak with great enthusiasm and pride as they describe the work the facility does.

“This is a permanent solution,” Hayes said. “This isn’t just a Band Aid on a knife wound.”

Over the past year of operation, the program has continued to grow in size and population.

The clinic has 26 full-time employees and has expanded from three residents to an average of 25 at any one time. The facility has 30 beds, with 14 for women in one wing and 16 for men in another wing. There is also a separate area of the facility that is being used as transitional housing for residents of the 120day program.

The facility has plans to expand to 40 beds within the next few months. It has plenty of space, 44 acres, to grow and expand as the need arises.

5

Cayla Nimmo/Independent

The Rehoboth McKinley Christian Hospital addiction rehabilitation center in Gallup cleared out an old storage room to create a sports rehabilitation wing for the residents.

Based on the Alcoholics Anonymous 12-step program, the treatment program does not rely on drug replacement therapy and is completely nonpunitive for the residents, Hayes said. The 20/20 program, the 120-day work rehab program and transitional housing are completely optional for the residents, but after 90 days, most choose to stay.

“We really put our arms around them,” Hayes said.

Camarota, who runs the 20/20 and 120-day work program, said the work rehabilitation portion of the program is an important factor in the healing process the residents go through.

“Working creates an atmosphere of making normal

normal again,” he said. “They start working, making money and most importantly, they know that they’re not moving forward alone. I’m here.”

Camarota said that working while still in the program affords the residents benefits that may not be present at other jobs. Residents have extremely flexible schedules that allow them to take time off as many days as they need for appointments or school, and still have a job when they come back.

Residents are also encouraged to work or train in areas that they are interested in, a process Camarota and his staff work to encourage even from the early stages of the 90-day program.

Residents of transitional housing who are hired outside

The program has also begun creating partnerships throughout the community to help the rehabilitation of its residents.

“A lot of places have come out wanting to help, and we want it too,” Hayes said. “We want our whole community to link arms on this.”

The University of New Mexico-Gallup has partnered with the rehab program to offer a General Educational Development course for the residents at the rehab facility. Every week for eight weeks, an educator from the college comes to the facility to provide classes.

For those who have already earned a GED or high school diploma, the program has partnered with the state Workforce Development Department to offer residents $5,000 to use for vocational training courses or two years of tuition for school.

Hayes said she has also had many businesses in town calling the program looking to hire residents. Along with RMCHCS, which hires most of the residents, Hayes said that Applebees called the program looking for 12 employees while Cracker Barrel

17-year drought

Begaye said the Ten Tribes Partnership, or Colorado River Basin Tribes Partnership Tribal Water Study, would assist the Navajo Nation in establishing a foundation to assess the tribe’s use of the Colorado River water for future water projects.

He explained that the partnership’s tribal water study would be used to assess system impacts resulting from development of tribal water and to help identify tribal water development challenges and opportunities.

The partnership and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation started the study in January 2014.

Begaye said the Navajo Nation, which is located in the upper and lower portion of the Colorado River Basin, appropriated more than $250 million for water infrastructure development projects during the next five years.

“The Office of the President and Vice-President has created a qualified team to work alongside the Navajo Nation Council to ensure our water rights are protected for future generations,” he said.

Begaye added that creating and completing critical water infrastructure projects is essential in providing water to the Navajo people and in improving economic development and creating jobs for the tribe.

He said the Navajo Nation and the Bureau of Reclamation also met to discuss the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project, the Southwest Navajo Rural Water Project, and the Western Navajo Water Supply Project and to receive updates on Bureau of Reclamation programs.

According to a Dec. 19 Arizona Daily Star news story, Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Estevan Lopez, in his address to conference participants Friday, reminded them that they were all in a precarious situation regarding the Colorado River.

Lopez recalled that in 2007, they were in an eight-year drought and now they’re in their 17th year of drought.

“It’s the driest 17-year period in recorded history,” he said.

The Colorado River Water Users Association, in its “Potential Impacts of Climate Change” resolution 2017-12, urged the Bureau of Reclamation, water management and water development agencies of each of the Colorado Basin states and tribes, and each water purveyor within the basin to consider the potential impacts of climate change in all aspects of its water resources management and planning to assure the continued reliability of the Colorado River water supply and to meet water supply demands in accordance with applicable law.

The association stated in its position statement for Resolution 2017-12, “The potential for climate change-induced impacts to the Colorado River is a matter of considerable public discussion.

“While the possible causes and impacts are the subject of heated debate, many scientists assert that climate change will continue to affect global temperatures, sea levels and precipitation pattern, and will have a corresponding impact to Colorado River runoff,” the association stated. “It is ap-

propriate to take into account the possibility that climate change could affect patterns of precipitation, snowpack, runoff and related water resource factors in the Colorado River Basin.”

The association also addressed drought in its “Augmentation and System Conservation of Colorado River Water Supplies” Resolution 2017-11 and position statement.

The position statement for 2017-11 cited the Dec. 12, 2012, Colorado River Basin Water Supply and Demand Study, which affirmed that the deficit between future water supply and demand.

The study reported that imbalances already exist in some geographic areas in the Lower Colorado Basin and that river flow could decrease by about 9 percent on average over the next 50 years, which strongly suggests that the river is vulnerable to drier-climate-caused water supplies.

Arizona, California and Nevada are in the Lower Colorado Basin.

According to the study, “Without diligent planning and implementation of water supply and demand reduction programs the basin will face chronic shortages.”

Colorado River Water Users Association and partnership The Colorado River Water Users Association, which has about 1,000 members, defines itself as a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization providing a forum for exchanging ideas and perspectives on Colorado River use and

a new look after the Jan. 13 inauguration when Pete Ken Atcitty, Lula Jackson, Charlie Jones Jr. and Sara White will join Nikki Begay.

One of the items the board voted 4-0 to approve was the school board bylaws for membership to include all new school board members must have background clearance before serving.

“We want consistency with the Navajo Nation,” said Julia Donald, Shiprock Associated Schools executive director.

Meeting state requirements

called looking for 24.

Respect Probably the most important part of the whole program is a mutual respect between the residents and staff of the clinic. As with all rehabilitation clinics, the facility has rules, but like Hayes said it is nonpunitive. Staff treat the residents with respect. They don’t talk down or chastise them. They recognize that the residents are in a rough transitional period in their lives and try to foster and encourage growth and healing at every step.

“It doesn’t have to be a bad experience,” Camarota said. “We don’t treat them like they’re bad people and they don’t treat us like we’re bad people.”

“This program is about spirit,” Watchman said. “We are returning their spirit” “This place has really been just blessing upon blessing for me,” Manuelito said.

The facility has a waiting list, but Hayes said that the wait is never longer than one week because all of the residents have started at different times. Hayes also explained that the program is free for New Mexico residents.

For more information on the program, or to inquire about enrollment, call the main clinic office at 505-726-6919 or call Gabriel Claw, the intake coordinator, at 505-726-6927.

Water rights Continued from Page 1

Continued from Page 1

management with the intent of developing and advocating common objectives, initiatives and solutions.

The 2016 Colorado River Water Users Association annual report and member directory stated that the Ten Tribes Partnership was formed in 1992 by 10 federally recognized tribes with reserved water rights in the Colorado River Basin. The member tribes are: Ute Indian Tribe, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Southern Ute Indian Tribe, Jicarilla Apache Nation, Navajo Nation, Chemehuevi Indian Tribe, Colorado River Indian Tribes, Fort Mojave Indian Tribe, Quechan Indian Tribe and Cocopah Indian Tribe.

The 10 member tribes formed the partnership to strengthen tribal influence among the seven Colorado Basin states over the management and utilization of Colorado River water resources.

The seven Colorado Basin states are Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.

The Ten Tribes Partnership assists its member tribes to develop and protect tribal water resources and to address technical, legal, economic and practical issues related to the management and operation of the Colorado River.

The partnership joined the Colorado River Water Users Association in 1996 to actively participate with the seven basin states in negotiations related to the Colorado River.

The tribal water study is expected to be published in early 2017 and will be available at http://www.usbr.gov/lc/ region/programs/crdstudy/tribalwaterstudy.html.

A major item discussed was the seven-day dormitory program versus reverting back to a five-day schedule.

Johnny Anderson, dormitory manager, said Shiprock Associated Schools and the Richfield Residential Hall in Utah are the only grant schools in the area that operate under a full week dorm schedule. Other Bureau of Indian Education dorms such as Aztec, Holbrook, Navajo Prep and Winslow operate on a five-day schedule. They run buses Friday after school and return the students Sunday.

Shiprock Associated Schools spent about $100,000 per school year to run weekend buses, but Anderson said that cost is now spent on food for the weekend.

In addition, there’s a Saturday activity bus.

The board voted for the continuation of the Friday half-day student schedule through the remainder of the school year.

Manuel Watchman, human resources manager, shared a survey that showed students overwhelming support the half day while parents and teachers support it by a slight margin.

The board voted to purchase a program licensing with Edgenuity for Northwest High School students’ online distance learning.

“The program licensing helps our students meet graduation requirements,” Donald said. “We still don’t have a full-time math teacher but our students still have to meet state requirements for graduation. That’s why we use this type of program.”

Conference attendance In total, the board approved 28 items, disapproved one item, decided not to discuss another item and tabled two items. The board went into executive session for two hours and 23 minutes to discuss old business and personnel matters. They also approved training sessions and conferences for administrators and board members to attend in 2017 in Albuquerque and Phoenix.

In December, two outgoing members attended the Native American Grant School Association conference in Las Vegas and three members, with the lone returning member, attended a conference in Albuquerque.

Ellison, who steps down as a board member in January, attended the conference in Las Vegas.

“They needed someone to attend, so I was selected,” Ellison said. “I learned a lot and I hope the incoming board members focus on attending these types of conferences and not just sign in and leave. I heard some people did that in the past. They need to participate and learn.”

The next regular school board meeting is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Jan. 9 in the Shiprock Associated Schools administration building.

Cibola hospital Continued from Page 1 have no liability, in exchange for this being a county facility. And for $1 that they’ve never paid us, to my knowledge, they were going to buy the hospital,” Gutierrez said. “It saved our butts. The next two years we at least broke even.”

Shortly thereafter, the federal government recognized that rural hospitals were all going bust and set up a subsidy to sole community provider facilities, which the hospital applied for and eventually received.

With that money coming in, in the late 1990s, hospital officials wanted to build a new facility and approached the county.

“We got a big dead space for a little bit. Then they came back and said,

‘OK, to do that, we need a million dollars seed money.’” Gutierrez said.

“That million went away, didn’t end up here at all.”

The people’s hospital The people of the community were asked to support a tax levy to help build the hospital. They voiced their support through a referendum.

After the hospital was built, Gutierrez said, “The County Commission started charging us rent on the building we already owned. So what I’m wanting, at the very least, is the hospital bought back for the $1 it was sold, because it’s the people’s hospital.

“If not that, at least all the monies that were never paid in to this hospital, or that were taken out in rent,

or that they didn’t meet the matching funds with, should apply to our end of the purchase. And I think that by the time all that’s said and done, we will have purchased the hospital,” he said.

Grants Mayor Martin “Modey” Hicks asked County Manager Tony Boyd, “What is the county’s plan? I know that you were approached by the board for them to buy back the hospital. This is the way I’m looking at it: The county would naturally love to sell it to the board for $10 million to fi ll their holes that they have.”

Boyd said that if the county were to sell the hospital to the board, the money cannot be used in the general fund.

“That money must be put either to-

ward other projects for health care for the county, or it must be put in some type of investment,” Boyd said. “The only thing we could use in our general fund is whatever we make off the interest.”

“Here’s how I feel about that,” Hicks said. “It’s like the doc says, everything that we have put into this that we have not been reimbursed for, that should be the buying price, because we already own it.”

Boyd said the county has been told that it would have to sell the hospital for its appraised value. But Hicks disagreed, saying that in the last year and a half, the city had sold the Presbyterian Health Care building across the street for $10.

“The county has been taking money from the hospital, from the citi-

zens that paid for this hospital, for years and years and years, and not kicking nothing back into it,” Hicks said. “Give it back to them for the $1 that they sold it to you guys for. It’s a 501(c)(3). It’s the people’s hospital.”

Boyd said the county had just received the appraisal. Including the medical office building, the hospital appraised at $13 million.

“It actually appraised a lot lower than I thought it would,” Boyd said.

“My personal opinion — the county has no business owning a hospital,” he added.

Hicks agreed, “But the community does. We already own it, so why are we going to sell it back to ourselves?”

Boyd said that unless he could find some other way, “I have to go by what the state is telling me.”

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Delegates want to cut red tape for loans

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Attorney general opposes her removal from review process

By Marley Shebala Diné Bureau navajo1@gallupindependent.com

WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. — The Navajo Nation Council Budget and Finance Committee is seeking Council approval for the removal of the attorney general and the controller from reviewing loans to tribal enterprises because it would cut bureaucratic red tape.

Attorney General Ethel Branch disagreed.

Branch stated in a May 19 memo to President Russell Begaye, Vice President Jonathan Nez, Speaker LoRenzo Bates, the Council and Navajo people: “Removing the attorney general’s role as a gatekeeper in ensuring lawful investment and use of the Nation’s public funds will place the public officials who approve and sign off on Nation-to-Nation loans at greater risk of approving an investment or loan in violation of the Nation’s financial laws and policies.

“Removing the controller’s gatekeeping function will put our leaders

See Cutting red tape, Page 5

President appoints 2 to NHA board Vida Volkert

Photos by Cayla Nimmo/Independent

Above, Pernell Manuelito shares his struggles with alcohol and drugs and the path that led him to sobriety during his speech Friday at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in Gallup. At top, Lennie James, left, hands Manuelito his one-year sobriety chip from Alcoholics Anonymous during a meeting in Gallup Friday. Below, Laris Manuelito hugs her son after listening to his speech at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting Friday in Gallup.

Gallup man finds hope in treatment

Staff writer eastnavajo@gallupindependent.com

By Kyle Chancellor Staff writer City@gallupindependent.com Twitter: @KylechanCity

Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye appointed two more candidates to the Navajo Housing Authority Board of Commissioners: Derrith Rachelle Watchman-Moore and Kris Olin Beecher.

Legislation to confirm Watchman-Moore and Beecher is scheduled to be reviewed by members of the Navajo Nation Council this week.

G

ALLUP — One year ago, Pernell Manuelito was released from Gallup Indian Medical Center after spending three days suffering from alcohol withdrawal symptoms. For 10 years previous to that stay, Manuelito had been dealing with an addiction to drugs and alcohol that started when he was 13.

Watchman-Moore’s resume According to the legislation, Watchman-Moore is the deputy regional director/supervisory natural resource manager for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Navajo Region — a position she has held since February 2015. Prior to holding this position, Watchman-Moore has worked for various tribal, state and federal agencies during a time span of 28 years, including the New Mexico Environment Department, New Mexico Department of Indian Affairs, Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Her resume includes two years as chief operating officer of the Navajo Housing Authority serving under CEO Aneva Yazzie between August 2008 and November 2010. Watchman-Moore holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Phoenix, and a Bachelor of Science in animal science from Colorado State University.

In her application package addressed

See NHA board, Page 5

See 1 year sober, Page 5

Report outlines challenges of rural economies

By Kathy Helms Cibola County Bureau cibola@gallupindependent.com

GRANTS — Declining population, limited employment opportunities, an education gap and lack of public investment pose significant challenges to the economic vitality of rural communities, according to a U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee report released May 16.

But Congress can address these challenges by improving access to broadband; diversifying the econo-

my; and investing in infrastructure, workforce development and community colleges, U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., ranking member of the Joint Economic Committee, stated in a teleconference.

“In New Mexico and across the nation, working to address these challenges is not only vital to the success of our future economy, but to the livelihoods of millions of Americans who deserve a fair shot at getting ahead,” Heinrich said.

The committee report, Understanding the Economic Challenges in Rural America, found that since

the 2007-2009 recession, economic recovery in rural communities has not matched that in urban areas.

Additionally, employment in rural communities has not returned to its pre-recession levels. In contrast, metro area employment surpassed its pre-recession peak in 2013.

Geographic remoteness As rural job growth lagged behind urban areas, residents looked increasingly outside their communities to find new work and opportunities, leading to a population decline.

America’s population in rural counties stood at 46.1 million in 2016, a reduction of 0.4 percent since 2010. In contrast, metropolitan counties experienced a 5 percent population increase over the same period.

Because rural communities are located far from dense population centers, routine economic interactions are more difficult and costly.

When individuals live closer together, those interactions are more frequent, carry lower costs and lead

See Rural economies, Page 5

LOCAL

The Independent — Gallup, N.M. — Tuesday, May 23, 2017 — Page

Man in court after parking lot drug deal

By Bill Donovan Independent correspondent cops@gallupindependent.com

GALLUP — Local narcotics agents spent the day April 4 watching Lester Sandoval meet up with a variety of people who came in cars, met briefly with him and then left.

Narcotic agents for the Region 1 Narcotics Task Force said all of this — going from place to place and meeting with people for a short period of time — was “consistent with drug transactions by known traffickers.”

That is why Sandoval, 58, of Gallup, was arraigned before 11th Judicial District Court Judge Lyndy Bennett Friday on multiple drug charges, including trafficking and distribution of controlled substances and possession of drug paraphernalia.

After watching Sandoval meet with several individuals that day in April, narcotics agents said they followed him to the Albertson’s parking lot where he met with

a potential buyer. Agents approached the labeled “50.00.” vehicle and told Sandoval to come outside When Sandoval was later searched at the vehicle and talk with them. the Gallup Police headquarters after his When he did, agents stated in the crim- arrest, agents found five round blue pills inal complaint against Sandoval that they later identified after testing to be oxyco“observed in plain sight a pill done hydrochoride, which is a bottle containing individual banned narcotic. baggies (inside of which) was After securing a search wara glass shard-like substance” rant, agents carefully inspected which had the appearance of bethe interior of Sandoval’s vehicle ing methamphetamine. and found four scales, which are On the dashboard of his vehicommonly used to weigh narcotcle was a clear plastic container ics. that contained a green leafy subWhen the substances found stance that appeared to be maron Sandoval and in his car were ijuana. later tested, he was found to Sandoval When he was asked to show have had at the time of his arrest identification, he pointed to his 186.1 grams of marijuana, 117.2 front pocket where agents located a folded grams of meth, 149 pills of illegal drugs paper bundle, which the complaint said is and two round grey pills later identified as the type used to package illegal narcotics OxyContin. for sale.

This marks the first tome Sandoval has When narcotics agents opened the bun- appeared in district court on drug-related dle, they found a white powdery substance charges, according to New Mexico court later identified as cocaine. The bundle was records.

1 year sober Continued from Page 1 Manuelito was born and raised in Gallup with family in Window Rock, Arizona, and Tohatchi. Growing up, he said he was exposed to domestic violence, sexual abuse, serious family dysfunction as well as alcohol abuse in the home. He said this upbringing contributed to the early start of his addiction.

Manuelito described the addiction as layer upon layer building on top of who he was.

He put on a facade for those around him that he was happy and fine, but underneath he lost his faith and the truly happy, passionate person he thought he once was.

As the years and partying went on, Manuelito’s addiction started to affect his health.

“I was tired physically,” he said. “I was tired mentally. I didn’t know what to do anymore, I was lost, I was hurt, I was lonely.”

He began to become more withdrawn and introspective.

He began to think about his younger self who was passionate, thoughtful and kind. He wanted to get back to that and back to himself, but he didn’t know how, so he began drinking alone and just enough to keep the sickness of withdrawals away.

This is what landed him in the hospital the last time. In an attempt to become sober, Manuelito became ill from alcohol withdrawal and had to be put in a hospital in Albuquerque for a short time. His grandfather then picked him up and brought him back to Gallup and to GIMC. During the ride back home, Manuelito said he made a promise to his grandfather — to seek help and move past his addiction.

On June 2, 2016, Manuelito checked himself into the Rehoboth McKinley Christian Hospital Residential Treatment Center. He was the first of his immediate family to receive treatment for addiction.

Sobriety A year later, Manuelito is celebrating a year of sobriety and huge changes in his life.

He talked of the time he was using as if he had gone away from the world and was now just coming back with new experiences and knowledge.

“I always tell it like I had gone out to battle and I am coming back as a warrior with knowledge and experience,” Manuelito said in his office at the RMCH Behavioral Health

Cayla Nimmo/Independent

Pernell Manuelito smiles during his speech in honor of his one year of sobriety at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in Gallup Friday.

Cayla Nimmo/Independent

Pernell Manuelito holds up his one-year sobriety chip during his speech at Alcoholics Anonymous in Gallup Friday. June 2, 2016, marks the date Manuelito entered the Rehoboth McKinley Christian Hospital rehab program.

Services campus Monday.

The experience and knowledge Manuelito discussed played a huge roll in his new job as patient advocate at the treatment center. Manuelito began working at the center while he was still undergoing treatment as a part of the program’s 20/20 and 120-day work rehab programs, both of which Manuelito was the first graduate.

Manuelito said staff at the program, especially Special Programs Director Bill Camarota, spend a lot of time with the clients to discover what

they are passionate about and what skills they have. They then use that knowledge to begin putting the clients back to work and back into normal lives.

Manuelito’s strengths include his ability to help individuals seek help for their addiction as well as being a support system for people battling the different stages of addiction therapy.

“It’s all good and well to rise to the top, but what good is it unless you bring the rest up with you?” Manuelito said.

Making meaningful con-

nections and really communicating to people is what helped Manuelito through his treatment, and that is what he tries to provide to the clients moving through the program.

He also said changing the way individuals think about their addiction can change their outlook, as well as change the way they see themselves, how they see the demons they’ve created, and how to move past them.

Manuelito credits his recovery firstly to strong family support, including his mother, grandmother and grandfather.

He also gives credit to the treatment program.

“I don’t know where I’d be if it weren’t for the treatment center and certain stellar, inspirational individuals,” Manuelito said, referring to the staff who guided him through the program. “I have a lot of faith in this place, and I have a lot of faith in this community.”

The RMCH Residential Treatment Center has 40 beds and is in the process of expanding to 50. They are also growing their transitional housing capacity and work rehab program. The program is offered to New Mexico residents at no cost and is completely voluntary.

Information: RMCH Residential Treatment Center, 505-726-6919.

Online: rmch.org

5

Cutting red tape Continued from Page 1 at risk of over-committing, or even losing, the Nation’s public funds,” she stated. “I greatly caution our leaders against the imprudence of increasing these risks for themselves and for the funds of the Navajo people.”

But the Law and Order Committee sided with Budget and Finance and took Legislation 0151-17 one-step closer to the Council by unanimously approving it Tuesday.

The next step for the bill is the Naa’bik’iyati’ Committee and then the Council.

Budget and Finance Chairman Seth Damon sponsored the bill, which seeks to amend the Navajo Nation Bond Financing Act.

Sihasin Fund loans Damon explained to the Law and Order Committee that the bill would shorten the red tape and that the removal of the attorney general and controller from the review of bonds and loans issued from the Sihasin Fund was only for bonds and loans that the tribe approved for tribal enterprises, such as Navajo Nation Gaming Enterprise and Navajo Tribal Utility Authority.

Some of the tribe’s other businesses include Navajo Transitional Energy Company, Navajo Oil and Gas, Navajo Engineering and Construction Authority, and Navajo Agricultural Products Industry.

In 2014, the Council adopted the Navajo Nation Breach of Trust Settlement Act, which created the Sihasin Fund from the $554 million settlement by the federal government for years of mismanagement of the tribe’s revenues from its oil and gas and other natural resources that resulted in the loss of millions and possibly billions of dollars since 1946.

The Naa’bik’iyati’ Committee established a Sihasin Fund Subcommittee to recommend an expenditure plan for the settlement funds in April 2015, which allowed the subcommittee to recommend projects

to the Naa’bik’iyati’ Committee and Council that would be funded by the Sihasin Fund.

Damon said the attorney general and controller would continue to be in review process for external loans and bonds issued by the Navajo Nation, such as the loan from KeyBank for the tribe’s judicial centers.

In November 2015, the tribe closed its first bond transaction, which involved the sale of $52.9 million of investment grade tax-exempt general obligation bonds in a private placement.

KeyBank Capital Markets was the underwriter and the 15-year securities refinanced a $60 million loan KeyBank made to the tribe in 2010 to finance judicial and public safety facilities.

Damon added that any amendments to the Bond Financing Act had to have the recommendation of the Budget and Finance Committee and only required a majority vote of the Council.

He said Budget and Finance unanimously approved legislation in April that recommended the removal of the attorney general and controller from the review of tribal loans and bonds for tribal enterprises.

Backlash Branch noted in her May 19 memo opposing the bill that her removal from the review of loans and bonds is “a backlash against my successful and vigorous attempts to ensure lawful use of the Nation’s public funds.”

During the Law and Order debate on the bill, Delegate Otto Tso noted that the attorney general works for the Council and the Council can remove her, like they did with Controller Jim Parris.

“We let him go,” Tso, who is also a Sihasin Subcommittee member, said.

He added that the job of the attorney general and controller is to make sure everything is OK, but the approval of loans and bonds is by elected officials.

NHA board Continued from Page 1 to the Office of the President and Vice President, Watchman-Moore wrote the president’s decision to remove the outgoing board of commissioners “is consistent with the immediate need for board leadership and governance in the highest degree given the housing crisis on the Navajo Nation.”

Watchman-Moore stated she has “intimate knowledge of tribal and public housing policy development and hands on experience in managing tribal housing development and construction.” She further stated she led the housing assessment effort at the housing authority, which established the housing need of 34,000 homes on the Navajo Nation.

She was appointed by Begaye May 1.

Beecher’s resume Beecher is studying to become a lawyer at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University, Tempe Campus, and plans to graduate in the spring of 2019.

Beecher has a bachelor’s degree in political science from ASU and passed the Navajo Bar Exam earlier this year, according to his resume.

For the past couple years, Becheer has served as intern for various organizations and agencies, including the Navajo Nation Office of the Chief Prosecutor in the winter of 20162017; the assistant secretary of Indian Affairs, Department of Interior in Phoenix; the Arizona Legislature, and the Indian Legal Program Office at ASU. Between March 2011 and October 2015, Beecher worked as property manager for Reasonable Rentals in Chandler, Arizona, according to his resume.

His job responsibilities included overseeing “$7.9 million in real estate assets” for the company at various locations. He also worked as vice president and general manager of Krank Amplification in Chandler, Arizona.

In his letter in support of his application to the board, Beecher wrote that as “an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, a person who grew up in the NHA housing, and a current resident of a house that was purchased through NHA, I understand the urgent need for quality housing for our people.”

He further wrote that over the past years he has been selecting internships and experiences to help him later return to the Navajo Nation to serve his people.

Beecher was appointed May 15.

Rural economies Continued from Page 1 to more economic activity, the report states.

Grants Mayor Martin “Modey” Hicks has a different idea about why rural New Mexico, and the state in general, is in a bind.

“The reason we can’t get companies in here is our taxes,” he said.

“That’s our biggest problem. Our taxes go up 3 percent every year, no matter what. Property taxes, gross receipts taxes are out of control.

“We’ve had 27,000 people move out of our state in the last year due to lack of jobs and being overtaxed — and now the Legislature wants to raise taxes on those of us that work.

We’re No. 1 in the state in unemployment. We don’t need no more taxes.

We’re taxed through the nose already,” Hicks said.

To remedy that, state legislators need to look at revamping the tax code, Hicks said.

“Their taxes are not business friendly, and the way they’re doing it, they’re killing them (businesses),” he said. “Taxes aren’t going to get us out of this.”

Limited diversification The report noted that some rural economies were built around one or a few industries, often reflecting the wealth of natural resources or agricultural potential in a given area.

This limited economic diversification makes the communities especially vulnerable when economic shocks

adversely affect specific industries.

Cibola County is no stranger to such economic tsunamis, having put all its eggs in the same basket on more than one occasion. It has weathered the boom and bust of the carrot industry, the uranium industry, and is now caught in the downward spiral of the prison industry. In response, the governments of Grants, Milan and Cibola County are casting about for a new lifeline — tourism.

Cibola County Commissioner Robert Windhorst blames the eroding economy and lack of economic development, in part, on “no imagination.”

“I would love to enclose the rodeo grounds so that we can have indoor rodeos like they do in Socorro, and I would like to pave the road up to La

Mosca peak because that’s one of the five highest elevations in the United States,” he said. “If it were paved, it would be one of the top five, and I know people would come and go up there and look at that view.”

The county also has been hurt by past corruption and leaders who “get into office and spend everything we have,” Windhorst said. “They’re like drunken sailors on a Saturday night after payday.

“They don’t have a clue of the importance of staying within a budget and setting a little aside so there’s always a reserve. If you don’t know how to control your expenditures, you’ll never have the money to do the extra things that bring in money and bring economic development to your area,” he said.

Meeting the challenge For Congress to adequately address the issues that rural America faces, it must understand how many of rural America’s problems differ from those of urban America, Heinrich said.

“In the 21st century economy, a college education is increasingly necessary for achieving economic prosperity,” he said. “Yet rural America consistently lags behind urban communities in educational attainment, and the gap between the two has increased by 25 percent from 2000 to 2016.

“Congress’s work on economic development, infrastructure, and education must tailor approaches to meet the unique challenges facing rural communities,” he said.