New report raises concerns about Chinle Chapter APRA sub-recipient agreements

At Tuesday’s Budget and Finance Committee meeting in Window Rock, Delegate Shawna Ann Claw pressed for clarity and oversight of Chinle Chapter’s APRA sub‑recipient agreements tied to an $8.8 million chapter allocation. Chinle Chapter President Rosanna Jumbo‑Fitch reported the chapter’s sub‑recipient agreements, prompting Claw to request a legal opinion and ask that $750,000 be audited given reporting requirements for chapters that expend that amount in a fiscal year.

“Chinle Chapter has five sub-recipient agreements, better known as SRA, that are in progress for its APRA projects,” Jumbo‑Fitch said as she outlined the chapter’s project pipeline. Jumbo‑Fitch added that “Chinle Chapter was allocated $8.8 million” and that “Jumbo‑Fitch said Chinle has received sub-recipient agreements of $5.9 million.”

Jumbo‑Fitch provided a brief timeline of receipts and disbursements: “Last May, Chinle expended $3.6 million, which Jumbo‑Fitch said was disbursed 100 percent.” She also reported that “In January, the chapter received $2.2 million, of which 50% had been disbursed.” On external partners, the meeting record notes “an external sub-recipient agreement was completed 50 percent by Day-At-A-Time Club, which totals $250,000.” Jumbo‑Fitch further reported that “Chinle Chapter is completing projects three and four” while “Other project costs have yet to be spent.”

Claw framed the discussion around accountability and inclusion. “Chinle Delegate Shawna Ann Claw questions who would be accountable for that amount,” she said while urging committee review. “She alleges not being included in any of the chapter’s project discussions and asked to be included.” Claw also “asked the BFC for legal opinion to see if the Chinle Chapter has met the requirements because it entails ARPA funding,” highlighting an inconsistency in the acronyms used in project materials.

Emails shared with Claw were cited during the hearing as evidence of external outreach and notification; “According to emails shared with Claw, the Chinle Chapter included the Navajo Nation Washington Office, U.S. Arizona Representative Eli Crane, and Delegate Eugenia Charles-Newton.” The content and role of those offices and officials in the projects were not detailed at the meeting.

Key documentary gaps remain unresolved: the five SRAs have been named only in aggregate, the relationship between the $5.9 million in SRAs and the $8.8 million allocation has not been reconciled at the committee table, and the exact meaning of the Day‑At‑A‑Time Club’s 50 percent completion was not specified as disbursement or work completed. The BFC did not provide a legal opinion at the meeting; Claw’s request for that opinion and for an audit of the $750,000 threshold stands as the principal action item emerging from the session.