New [NM] state senator [Lynda Lovejoy] pursues funds for project
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Yvonne Yazzie
Mar 29, 2007, 7:45:05 PM3/29/07
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http://navajotimes.com/news/032907-lovejoy.php
No rest for Lovejoy
New state senator pursues funds for projects
By Jim Snyder
Special to the Times
Santa Fe, N.M., Mar. 22, 2007
When one door closes, another opens.
Lynda Lovejoy, who bested a field of male candidates and came surprisingly close to becoming the first female president of the Navajo Nation last November, found this to be true when Gov. Bill Richardson appointed her Feb. 1 to the New Mexico Senate.
Lovejoy, who served five terms in the state House of Representatives during the 1990s, is filling in for Leonard Tsosie, D-Crownpoint, who stepped down to take a seat on the Navajo Nation Council.
She has wasted no time since returning to the Roundhouse.
In the just-ended budget session, Lovejoy secured $2.9 million in funding for 27 Navajo communities.
She got three bills past both the House and Senate, which are awaiting Richardson's signature. She also helped to secure $12 million for a water project to benefit oft-forgotten eastern edges of the Navajo Nation.
Following her strong showing in the Navajo presidential race, Lovejoy was a favorite to replace Tsosie.
Council Delegate Ervin M. Keeswood Sr. (Tsé' Daa' Kaan) lobbied Richardson along with Young Jeff Tom (Mariano Lake/Smith Lake), Charles S. Damon II (Breadsprings/Church Rock), Harriet K. Becenti (Rock Springs/Manuelito/Tsayatoh) and Alice W. Benally (Crownpoint/Nahodishgish).
Tsosie, who represented Dist. 22 including portions of Bernalillo, Cibola, McKinley, Rio Arriba and Sandoval counties, was forced to choose between the state Senate and the tribal council in a decision by the Navajo Nation Supreme Court.
Lovejoy had just completed her second four-year term on the state Public Regulation Commission when Tsosie's Senate seat opened up.
She joined the Legislature's grueling 60-day budget session a few weeks late, but no matter - she already knew the ropes after serving from 1989 to 1998 as a representative for Dist. 22, including four years as chair of the House Government and Urban Affairs Committee.
"I feel like I'm in my element," said Lovejoy, who has been assigned to the Senate Education and Indian Cultural Affairs committees. "A lot of the processes have not changed. Many of the people are still here. And they are helpful."
Lovejoy was quickly welcomed as an ally by Sen. John Pinto, D-Tohatchi.
"She and I are going to work together fine," said Pinto, senior member of the Navajo Nation delegation. "She knows what to do in the Senate. She already has experience in the past. She's on my committee - the Indian Cultural Affairs Committee. I welcome her 100 percent."
Lovejoy welcomed the opportunity to work with Pinto, who has 30 years of experience as a state legislator.
"I enjoy working with him; he's a man with a lot of knowledge and a lot of wisdom," she said.
Another run?
Does Lovejoy intend to run again for Navajo Nation president?
"It's too soon for me to give you an answer. My life has been spinning for a while," Lovejoy said. "First I recuperated from the loss of the presidential election. And then I was settling into my new job and was starting to enjoy my private life when this happened."
"I am going to see how things are working with the (Navajo) government, how the leadership is doing," she added.
Lovejoy said her immediate concern is that money the state Legislature appropriates for projects on the Navajo Nation is not getting used.
"I really would like to work with the Navajo Nation governmental leaders to find ways, immediate ways, to improve spending the monies that have already been allocated from the state to the tribe for Navajo Nation infrastructure," she said, echoing concerns raised by other state legislators about the procedural obstacles that sink many such projects.
"I would like to work with Navajo Nation governmental leaders, beginning with the president, to be ready to expend these funds," Lovejoy said.
Back at the Roundhouse, Lovejoy quickly became a familiar sight on the Senate floor as well as in committee meetings and meeting with folks from back home. Next year, however, she hopes to learn her constituents' funding requests much earlier.
"I want to work with chapters to be more prepared - before we come into session," Lovejoy said. "All the chapters who want capital outlay funds need to be prepared early in the season."
That's not to say she doesn't welcome visitors from home, even during the busiest times.
"I love working for people and I don't mind visiting with people who come to see me. I have to make time for them," she said.
Money and bills
Lovejoy wrote three bills that now are awaiting the governor's signature.
Senate bill 1044 amends the Indian Education Act to require consultation and collaboration between the state Public Education Department and tribes in evaluating efforts to improve student performance.
Senate bill 1105 allows county clerks the discretion to provide alternative early-voting locations on tribal lands.
Senate bill 1170 adds the state Secretary of Health or a designee to serve on the Water Quality Control Commission.
The $2.9 million in community projects that Lovejoy landed this year includes several that were vetoed by the governor in last year's budget session.
The revived projects include $50,000 for Becenti Chapter bathroom additions; $20,000 for a survey and archeological clearance for Navajo Nation Veterans Multi-County Land and $100,000 to build a senior center in Whitehorse Lake Chapter.
In a separate funding bill, she also made sure $5 million was included for a water pipeline to serve Eastern Agency communities. A total of $12 million was approved for that project, including $7 million in the main budget bill.
"I truly applaud Governor Richardson for keeping his commitment to 2007 Year of Water in which he included the Eastern Navajo checkerboard region in his three-part strategy for improving water availability," Lovejoy said in a news release.
"The funds will now be used to secure rights-of-way, design and construction of the water pipeline. This project is referred to as Cutter Lateral - a component of the Navajo-Gallup water supply project and a key element of the San Juan River settlement agreement," she added.
The project is intended to provide immediate benefits by consolidating several separate community water systems into a single regional system extending from Huerfano and Nageezi chapters south toward Whitehorse Lake and Pueblo Pintado, N.M., Lovejoy explained.
In addition, Lovejoy secured $327,000 in a special projects bill to fund the New Mexico State University Tribal Cooperative Extension ($97,000); a full-time professor of Navajo language at the University of New Mexico ($75,000); UNM Native American studies program ($75,000); International Indigenous Film Festival ($68,000); and a full-time staff member to work on a Crownpoint veterans' profile database ($42,000).
"I thoroughly enjoy serving the constituents in District 22," Lovejoy said, adding that she is optimistic about doing even more for them in next year's budget.
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Articles are posted under the fair use
(http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html)
doctrine of international copyright law, Title 17 U.S.C.
Section 107. All copyrights belong to the original publisher.
<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>
No rest for Lovejoy
New state senator pursues funds for projects
By Jim Snyder
Special to the Times
Santa Fe, N.M., Mar. 22, 2007
When one door closes, another opens.
Lynda Lovejoy, who bested a field of male candidates and came surprisingly close to becoming the first female president of the Navajo Nation last November, found this to be true when Gov. Bill Richardson appointed her Feb. 1 to the New Mexico Senate.
Lovejoy, who served five terms in the state House of Representatives during the 1990s, is filling in for Leonard Tsosie, D-Crownpoint, who stepped down to take a seat on the Navajo Nation Council.
She has wasted no time since returning to the Roundhouse.
In the just-ended budget session, Lovejoy secured $2.9 million in funding for 27 Navajo communities.
She got three bills past both the House and Senate, which are awaiting Richardson's signature. She also helped to secure $12 million for a water project to benefit oft-forgotten eastern edges of the Navajo Nation.
Following her strong showing in the Navajo presidential race, Lovejoy was a favorite to replace Tsosie.
Council Delegate Ervin M. Keeswood Sr. (Tsé' Daa' Kaan) lobbied Richardson along with Young Jeff Tom (Mariano Lake/Smith Lake), Charles S. Damon II (Breadsprings/Church Rock), Harriet K. Becenti (Rock Springs/Manuelito/Tsayatoh) and Alice W. Benally (Crownpoint/Nahodishgish).
Tsosie, who represented Dist. 22 including portions of Bernalillo, Cibola, McKinley, Rio Arriba and Sandoval counties, was forced to choose between the state Senate and the tribal council in a decision by the Navajo Nation Supreme Court.
Lovejoy had just completed her second four-year term on the state Public Regulation Commission when Tsosie's Senate seat opened up.
She joined the Legislature's grueling 60-day budget session a few weeks late, but no matter - she already knew the ropes after serving from 1989 to 1998 as a representative for Dist. 22, including four years as chair of the House Government and Urban Affairs Committee.
"I feel like I'm in my element," said Lovejoy, who has been assigned to the Senate Education and Indian Cultural Affairs committees. "A lot of the processes have not changed. Many of the people are still here. And they are helpful."
Lovejoy was quickly welcomed as an ally by Sen. John Pinto, D-Tohatchi.
"She and I are going to work together fine," said Pinto, senior member of the Navajo Nation delegation. "She knows what to do in the Senate. She already has experience in the past. She's on my committee - the Indian Cultural Affairs Committee. I welcome her 100 percent."
Lovejoy welcomed the opportunity to work with Pinto, who has 30 years of experience as a state legislator.
"I enjoy working with him; he's a man with a lot of knowledge and a lot of wisdom," she said.
Another run?
Does Lovejoy intend to run again for Navajo Nation president?
"It's too soon for me to give you an answer. My life has been spinning for a while," Lovejoy said. "First I recuperated from the loss of the presidential election. And then I was settling into my new job and was starting to enjoy my private life when this happened."
"I am going to see how things are working with the (Navajo) government, how the leadership is doing," she added.
Lovejoy said her immediate concern is that money the state Legislature appropriates for projects on the Navajo Nation is not getting used.
"I really would like to work with the Navajo Nation governmental leaders to find ways, immediate ways, to improve spending the monies that have already been allocated from the state to the tribe for Navajo Nation infrastructure," she said, echoing concerns raised by other state legislators about the procedural obstacles that sink many such projects.
"I would like to work with Navajo Nation governmental leaders, beginning with the president, to be ready to expend these funds," Lovejoy said.
Back at the Roundhouse, Lovejoy quickly became a familiar sight on the Senate floor as well as in committee meetings and meeting with folks from back home. Next year, however, she hopes to learn her constituents' funding requests much earlier.
"I want to work with chapters to be more prepared - before we come into session," Lovejoy said. "All the chapters who want capital outlay funds need to be prepared early in the season."
That's not to say she doesn't welcome visitors from home, even during the busiest times.
"I love working for people and I don't mind visiting with people who come to see me. I have to make time for them," she said.
Money and bills
Lovejoy wrote three bills that now are awaiting the governor's signature.
Senate bill 1044 amends the Indian Education Act to require consultation and collaboration between the state Public Education Department and tribes in evaluating efforts to improve student performance.
Senate bill 1105 allows county clerks the discretion to provide alternative early-voting locations on tribal lands.
Senate bill 1170 adds the state Secretary of Health or a designee to serve on the Water Quality Control Commission.
The $2.9 million in community projects that Lovejoy landed this year includes several that were vetoed by the governor in last year's budget session.
The revived projects include $50,000 for Becenti Chapter bathroom additions; $20,000 for a survey and archeological clearance for Navajo Nation Veterans Multi-County Land and $100,000 to build a senior center in Whitehorse Lake Chapter.
In a separate funding bill, she also made sure $5 million was included for a water pipeline to serve Eastern Agency communities. A total of $12 million was approved for that project, including $7 million in the main budget bill.
"I truly applaud Governor Richardson for keeping his commitment to 2007 Year of Water in which he included the Eastern Navajo checkerboard region in his three-part strategy for improving water availability," Lovejoy said in a news release.
"The funds will now be used to secure rights-of-way, design and construction of the water pipeline. This project is referred to as Cutter Lateral - a component of the Navajo-Gallup water supply project and a key element of the San Juan River settlement agreement," she added.
The project is intended to provide immediate benefits by consolidating several separate community water systems into a single regional system extending from Huerfano and Nageezi chapters south toward Whitehorse Lake and Pueblo Pintado, N.M., Lovejoy explained.
In addition, Lovejoy secured $327,000 in a special projects bill to fund the New Mexico State University Tribal Cooperative Extension ($97,000); a full-time professor of Navajo language at the University of New Mexico ($75,000); UNM Native American studies program ($75,000); International Indigenous Film Festival ($68,000); and a full-time staff member to work on a Crownpoint veterans' profile database ($42,000).
"I thoroughly enjoy serving the constituents in District 22," Lovejoy said, adding that she is optimistic about doing even more for them in next year's budget.
<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>
Articles are posted under the fair use
(http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html)
doctrine of international copyright law, Title 17 U.S.C.
Section 107. All copyrights belong to the original publisher.
<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>
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