San Juan County, Navajo Nation officials talk about fire services

May 29--SHIPROCK -- Navajo Nation officials offered no indication which option they are favoring during a meeting with San Juan County officials here Thursday to talk about a county proposal that would change the way fire protection services are provided on the reservation.

Approximately 50 people attended the meeting at the Shiprock Chapter House. The county has been providing and funding fire services on the reservation since the 1990s, but in December, it approached the tribe with three options for continuing the services. County officials have said a change is necessary because the county can no longer pay for the services on its own.

In their proposal to the tribe, county officials said the tribe can pay $810,000 annually to cover operational and equipment costs, the county can hand over the fire stations and a portion of the equipment to the Navajo Nation Fire Department for response and operational costs, or the county can close the fire stations and the tribe's fire department can provide equipment and emergency response. They said the change is necessary because the county has experienced a sharp decline in revenue.

San Juan County Commissioner Wallace Charley, who represents the area serviced by the fire stations, said the county continues to wait for an answer from the tribe. County officials met with Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye and Vice President Jonathan Nez last week.

"It's not settled. They're still looking at all the documents and all the agreements," Charley said.

County Deputy Chief Craig Daugherty said there are 272 volunteers for the 14 fire districts in the county.

"When we went to the Navajo Nation, I feel like we offered them a fair deal with option one for money to help us continue to operate here," Daugherty said, adding that the last thing the department wants to do is end services.

Eric Descheenie, a member of Begaye's staff, did not say which option the tribe would prefer, but he said he would share the information from the meeting with the president.

Navajo Nation Council Delegate Tom Chee, who represents the Shiprock Chapter, said now is not the time to "squabble" about the situation.

"It's no time to say, 'It's this or that. It's time to say, 'How do we do this?'" Chee said.

Pete Ken Atcitty, a staff assistant with the council's Office of the Speaker, said the office has been participating in the discussion, but the decision belongs to the executive branch.

He added that if the tribe decides to take over the fire stations and equipment, it would require assessment by the tribe's Risk Management Program, which manages the insurance for tribal property.

"There's more to it than just saying, 'Yes,'" Atcitty said.

Retired firefighter and Shiprock resident Dan Smith Sr. said the $810,000 annual payment the county is asking from the tribe is minimal, and it is time for the tribe to support those fire services.

County Executive Officer Kim Carpenter said Thursday that since 2009, the county has cut $53 million from its annual budget due to the economic downturn.

Among the factors contributing to that decrease is lost revenue from oil and gas, a decline in funding from the federal government's Payments in Lieu of Taxes program and the tribe's purchase of the Navajo Mine, which caused the county to lose $1 million in property taxes.

The county has also seen a reduction in the tax revenue it collects from the unincorporated areas of the county due to annexation by Bloomfield and Farmington, Carpenter said. He added that revenue will shrink further since Kirtland became a town in January.

Noel Lyn Smith covers the Navajo Nation for The Daily Times. She can be reached at 505-564-4636 and [email protected]. Follow her @nsmithdt on Twitter.

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