FORMER NAVAJO PRESIDENT REGAINS TRACTION
Jan. 1 | Send us a news tip: [email protected]
Could he be the come back kid?
Former Navajo President, Joe Shirley. Photo credit : Joe Shirley Facebook
WINDOW ROCK – Dr. Joe Shirley Jr. Returns to public service, after serving as Navajo President from 2002 to 2010 and being a private citizen for two years, he returns with confidence.
Mr. Shirley was sworn in as County Supervisor in December, he told the Navajo Times it’s all about serving the Navajo people and is happy to back in public service.
Shirley takes his new post today, Jan. 1 2013. It’s not clear what the objective will be as county supervisor, but some predict he may run for Navajo President in 2014- again.
In the past, we asked the former Navajo leader if he would run in 2014. Shirley didn’t give us a clear answer, if he would or not. Shirley did make an effort to run for a third term, but Navajo law did not allow him to make the run, however, the political seasoned Shirley could have the door open in the 2014 Navajo Presidential Election.
In Nov. 2010, current Navajo President Ben Shelly won with a landslide over Lynda Lovejoy, Shelly served with Shirley as Vice President in his second term.
According to New Mexico Independent, On October 26, 2009, by a vote of 48-22 the Navajo Nation Tribal Council put Shirley on paid administrative leave after it received reports from law firms contracted by the Office of the Attorney General about possible ethical, civil and criminal violations concerning tribal contracts with two companies, OnSat Network Communications and Biochemical Decontamination Systems. The two companies in question are both sources of controversy within the tribe.
Finally, according to a court document, the Window Rock District Court found the council’s action ‘illegal and unenforceable’ and that was upheld by the Navajo Supreme Court immediately replaced all of the president’s authority and he was back in the president’s office that afternoon : “The district court ruled that Resolution C0-41- 09 is null and void and, therefore, unenforceable.”
