Navajo President Shelly held a signng ceremony of the NGS lease renewal in front of the Window Rock on July 30, 2013, Photo by Marley Shebala
On July 30, 2013, Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly signed the Navajo Generating Station lease renewal and the Navajo Nation Council legislation approving the lease renewal during a “signing ceremony” in front of the Window Rock.
Navajo Nation Council Speaker Johnny Naize, who sponsored the Council legislation for the NGS lease renewal, and Navajo Nation Attorney General Harrison Tsosie, who co-chaired the Navajo Nation NGS Lease Renewal Negotiating Team were part of the signng ceremony.
I attended the event and thanks to the generous assistance of a friend, I was able to use her tape recorder to record the signing ceremony. The following is a transcript:
Introductions:
Sam Woods, Navajo Generating Station negotiating team for Navajo Nation
Marty Ashley, Navajo Tax Commission director
Marcelino Gomez, Navajo Nation Department of Justice attorney
Barry Drost, Salt River Project major projects director
Steven Etsitty, Navajo Environmental Protection Agency director
Ram Das, Navajo Nation Mineral Department manager
Fred White, Navajo Nation Division of Natural Resources director & Co-Chair NGS negotiating team for Navajo Nation
Jim Pratt, Salt River Project manager of generation engineering
Harrison Tsosie, Navajo Nation Attorney General & Co-Chair of NGS negotiating team for Navajo Nation
President Ben Shelly
John Hoopes, Salt River Project Vice President
Johnny Naize, Council speaker
JOHN HOOPES, SRP VICE PRESIDENT
First, I want to thx prez shelly for inviting us here today. It’s indeed an honor and a privilege to be here. This is a significant day for both the Navajo Nation, it’s pple and of course Salt River Project and the other owners of Navajo Generating Station.
I don’t need to tell you that this transactions, these negotiations were important to the owners especially to Salt River Project as the operator of the plant. And we believe that the result of those negotiations will certainly benefit those owners.
I want to acknowledge though that in course of those negotiations there were differences and those differences reflected the legitimate and sincere views of pple of your nation.
And we respect those views. And you wud think that after 40 years as your guest and tenant at NGS that we wud know each other fairly well. But I’m told that one of the most significant benefits of these negotiations was that we learned much more about you, about your priorities, about your culture, about the things that you value.
And we hope that will aid our relationship going forward. And we look forward to that relationship.
I wud like to thank on behalf of the customers and shareholders of Salt River Project and the other owners that I represent, I want to express my thanks and our thanks to the negotiating team for their efforts.
It is unfortunately I guess true that the things that are most important to resolve are sometimes the things that are most difficult to resolve.
And perhaps that was true in this case. But they have been resolved and I hope in the long term we will see the benefit of that resolution.
And likewise when things are most difficult that is when leadership is most necessary. And true leadership, not cheerleading, but leadership. And there was clearly leadership on both sides, on all sides of this issue but particularly I have to thank President Shelly and his representatives on the negotiating team for their honesty and their good faith.
And I can’t say much more than that. Sincere thanks. And our sincere hope that this will be the beginning of a new chapter in our relationship. And that that relationship will continue to be to our mutual benefit.
Again, thank you for inviting me.
NAVAJO NATION ATTORNEY GENERAL HARRISON TSOSIE
And I want to welcome everyone out this signing ceremony of an important document for the Navajo Nation.
But at the beginning, I want to acknowledge and recognize folks that assisted in this effort, primarily the Speaker of the Navajo Nation Council and the various Council delegates who approved this document and recognized the efforts and the benefits that will accrue to the Navajo Nation, to our members that are employed there, to the positions that it funds here within the Navajo Nation, for Navajo Nation employees, the many departments, programs, divisions that receive the benefits of this particular economic project on the Navajo Nation and how important it is.
It is unfortunate that our economy is not as diverse as it should be but never the less this is an important feature of the current economy.
And the first thing I want to do is thank the negotiating team also: Sam (Woods), Marty (Ashley), Marcelino (Gomez), Akhtar (Zaman, Navajo Nation Minerals Department director), Steve (Etsitty), Ram (Das), and Fred (White) and also Bill Johnson who is also with the Department of Justice.
Their commitment in this particular negotiations was to the Navajo pple. And it’s the Navajo Nation, the Navajo pple’s resources, the lands, the air shed, the water, the employment, the coal.
Those are Navajo Nation resources that we’re utilizing to produce a product – energy, electricity, that’s used in the more populated areas of the state of Arizona and throughout the southwest that returns a certain amount of benefit for us, in terms of scholarships, in terms of jobs, and a variety of benefits that trickle down and out through the Navajo Nation.
And this negotiating team saw that as our primary commitment that our focus was on continuing these operations that benefit from the revenue streams of this particular project.
So we are thankful that the owners are committed to the continued operations for at least 25 years.
And we recognize that during those 25 years that we do have to transition our economy to make it more diverse so we have other revenue generators that we can rely on to produce income for the Navajo pple.
So I just wanted to point these little things out and to again thank the president and SRP folks and the owners of the NGS for their commitment for the next 25 years.
And they will have to make some large investments to keep this operation going also.
We just want to recognize that and thank all of the stakeholders in this activity.
SPEAKER JOHNNY NAIZE
First of all I want to thank Mr. President and the pple on behalf of the 22nd Navajo Nation Council.
And also mainly thank the pple that are employed at NGS, Navajo Generating Station and also pple are employed at Peabody Coal.
I know that though the months they have been calling . They have been on top of this ever since we began this legislation.
And they stuck with us throughout the times when they might have lost hope with the nation but we continually advising them that things will come up properly the way it should be at the end. And which it did.
So I thank the employees of both NGS and Peabody for having the continued confidence in the nation.
So with this I believe and hope it’s a sigh of relief when the president signs the legislation.
So on behalf of the Council again we will continue to provide that support. And also we continue to recognize the NGS as a neighbor to the nation, also Peabody itself. We recognize that the nation receives millions of dollars from these two companies and then it provides employment of course to our pple and also provides a stable economy to our nation and also to the state which includes Page and taxes to the state itself.
So there’s a lot that this revenue when it comes about is we share this revenue not only with the nation but we share it with everybody else.
So with that on behalf of the Navajo Nation Council, we thank and appreciate the pple that are here today.
PRESIDENT BEN SHELLY
I’m telling Erny (Zah), you’re not working for the Navajo Times no more; you’re working for me. Your boss is a politician and you have to follow my lead. Other news agencies you kind of have to follow policies and ethics. But my office, you have to make me look good and you keep your job. (Laughter)
First of all, I’d like to add to Speaker’s address. When people get paid, they get their deduction tax wise. The state benefits, the federal government benefits. Also the check comes out; the border towns benefit.
Page has been doing very well. I need to meet with the mayor and maybe talk to him, sit down with him. They need to do more for the Navajo there because it’s just like Gallup.
Without Navajos, they won’t make money.
I think every border town, the mayor needs to be brought in. We need to sit down and what is good for Navajo. They need to open themselves up a little more, just the way NGS is starting to do, to know us, know what we want and treat us right and we will benefit, both of us.
That’s what we need to do. That message needs to go out.
Now back to business at hand here, the resolution of the 22nd Navajo Nation Council, the third year, 2013, related to Resources and Development Committee, Budget and Finance Committee, Naa’biki’yati’ Committee, rescinding CAP-21-13, and recommending and approving amendment number one to the Indenture of lease effective December 23, 1969, between the Navajo Nation and Arizona Public Service Company, Salt River Projects and Agricultural Improvements and Power Districts.
Am I correct on that? We’re on line on that? Okay. That’s why I read this because I may signing the wrong one here.
That’s the resolution that was passed by the Navajo Nation Council.
I will be signing, only my signature by Navajo Nation. Arizona Public Service Company will sign. Department of Water and Power, City of Los Angeles will sign.
Where it says Attest Title, what will happen once we sign this, Ms. Shirley will notarize it for us. She is over there. She will notarize it and by the end of the day, everything will be legal. You are the witness.
After a brief explanation by staff to President Shelly, Shelly announces that he will be the only one signing and that SRP and others will sign later.
As he signs documents, he asks if he’s signing proper documents.
Shelly then realizes that he’s signed the lease first and that he’ll be signing the Council legislation next.
Shelly’s public information director Erny Zah announces that a group photo will be taken of President Shelly, Salt River Project officials and the Navajo Nation NGS Negotiating Team.
Professional Journal of Marley Shebala 