By Felicia Fonseca
The Associated Press

ALBUQUERQUE — The Navajo attorney general is facing a third attempt at removing him from office.

A measure moving through Tribal Council committees seeks to fire Louis Denetsosie from the job he’s held since 2003. The council’s Government Services Committee voted in favor of the bill Friday. It must go to the Ethics & Rules

Committee before being considered by the full council.
Joshua Lavar Butler, a spokesman for the council, said delegates have taken issue with a recent opinion issued by Denetsosie that supports President Joe Shirley’s initiative to reduce the council from 88 delegates to 24.

“He’s causing discord within the government right now, siding with the president,” Butler said. “With that, the council delegates felt he wasn’t being fair in his representation.”

Delegate Lawrence Platero, a co-sponsor of the measure, declined to comment prior to the council’s summer session slated for mid-July. A message left for co-sponsor Delegate Young Jeff Tom was not immediately returned.

Denetsosie issued an opinion April 29 that states a simple majority of votes would be needed to reduce the size of the council and give the president a line item veto. Shirley is trying to get the initiative on the November ballot.

Acting chief legislative counsel Frank Seanez countered with a memo to Council Speaker Lawrence Morgan that said a supermajority, or a majority vote of all 110 chapter houses, would be needed. He said Denetsosie’s analysis under Dine

Fundamental Law was “superficial, biased and unwarranted.”
In a June 13 memo to Seanez, Denetsosie said the Office of Legislative Counsel “acted inappropriately in issuing legal advice that conflicts with an opinion of the attorney general.”

“I trust that while you are acting chief legislative counsel, you will coordinate with my office in a professional manner and act consistently with the moral, ethical and legal

requirements of your profession and position,” Denetsosie wrote.

Denetsosie has survived attempts by the council to remove him before.

In October 2003, the council sought to fire Denetsosie, contending he favored the executive branch over the tribe as a whole. The council instead favored a reprimand. A resolution sponsored by the Education Committee said Denetsosie failed to consult with two council committees on the takeover of a school in Kayenta, Ariz.

Butler said the council told Denetsosie at the time that “if this was to occur again, they would attempt to remove him.

“That time has come,” Butler said.
The council made an unsuccessful attempt to remove Denetsosie in 2004.

Shirley, who recommended Denetsosie as the tribe’s top lawyer in December 2002, said he doesn’t see any reason for the council to remove Denetsosie. In a memo to the Government Services Committee on Friday, Shirley said the tribe is at a critical stage in several legal areas and the legislation “could result not only in a severe public backlash but unforeseen and unnecessary government instability.”

“I think it’s retaliation for what he’s done working for us, working for the people,” he said in an interview. “It’s really not good. I hope a majority of the council will not go with it.”

Denetsosie served as deputy attorney general for the Navajo Nation from 1982 to 1987.