Tribe's top lawyer quits
Chief Legislative Counsel Etcitty joins gaming enterprise

By Kathy Helms
Dine Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — Chief Legislative Counsel Raymond C. Etcitty voluntarily resigned his position Friday with the Legislative Branch of the Navajo Nation after five years. On Monday, Etcitty assumed a new position — general counsel to the Navajo Nation Gaming Enterprise in Gallup.

Frank Seanez was confirmed Tuesday by unanimous vote of the Intergovernmental Relations Committee to serve as Acting Chief Legislative Counsel until Council appoints a new chief.

“I have enjoyed the challenges presented to me by the Office of the Speaker, the Navajo Nation Council, and all the Navajo Nation Council delegates,” Etcitty stated in his resignation letter.

“Thank you for the opportunities you have provided me during my time with the Navajo Nation Council,” he added. Etcitty’s five-year tenure began in April 2003, when he was hired to replace Herb Yazzie.

“Ray Etcitty has served the Nation well. Etcitty served the Legislative Branch honorably and with the highest integrity for several years. We know that he will continue to serve the Navajo people with respect,” Speaker Lawrence T. Morgan said.

In his new position as general counsel, Etcitty said he will be helping put together a type of Five Management System for the Gaming Enterprise.

“The Five Management System is a Navajo Nation term, but those things that are put together are what all organizations need,” he said in a telephone interview.

Because the gaming enterprise is new, there are many documents that must be drafted and put together, such as personnel policies, grievance procedures, creating the protocol for the gaming regulatory office, to include how the office handles licensing and vendors, looking at vendors’ contracts to ensure they comply with Navajo law, among others.

“Casinos need to put together tribal internal control standards. Those have to be drafted as to how the casino operates,” Etcitty said. “There have to be a lot of things drafted, reviewed and legally approved before the casino opens.

“Right now, I have to talk with many firms and attorneys, and none of them know Navajo law, so I have to spend a lot of time just explaining how things work, as opposed to how they perceive things work.”

Etcitty applied for the general counsel position when it was advertised in February and negotiated his contract.
“If there are any legal questions, my contract was also reviewed and approved by the attorney general. So if anybody has any questions, it was validly approved. We double-checked any ethical questions, everything was fine,” he said.

“The good thing is I haven’t left the Navajo Nation because the enterprise is part of the Navajo Nation. I’m still trying to help out the people. Hopefully it will create revenues, jobs, maybe stimulate the economy, and hey, that’s a good goal to help out.”