FORT DEFIANCE, Ariz. — The Navajo community of Fort Defiance sits between two mountain ridges, and that’s important to know, Rep. Myron Tsosie explained to his fellow state legislators last month.
“It is dark. It’s like walking around with your eyes closed,” the Chinle Democrat, one of three Navajo state legislators, said, giving his colleagues important context while asking them to provide funding for street lights to keep people safe when they walk home from school or work.
Tsosie’s House Bill 2539 would direct $3.5 million from the state budget to install solar street lights in Fort Defiance. The goal, he told members of the House Housing and Infrastructure Committee on Jan. 24, is to provide adequate lighting for students, teachers, and other community members in northern Arizona along three highly trafficked routes in the community.
The solar street lights would be installed along Bureau of Indian Affair Routes N110, N7 and N12 within the community.
Fort Defiance is located six miles north of Window Rock, Arizona, the capital of the Navajo Nation, and home to more than 3,500 people.
Tsosie said Fort Defiance is home to several schools, and when students and teachers walk home after school, they often do it in the dark because there are no streetlights along these routes.
“We’re looking out for their safety,” he said, and by putting up solar street lights, the community will be safer to walk around.
Rep. Teresa Martinez, a Republican from Casa Grande and the vice-chair of the committee, said she supported the bill because she has visited the Navajo Nation several times and understands how dark the streets can get compared to what people may be familiar with in other parts of Arizona.
“My heart goes out to the little kids because they have to walk home in the dark,” Martinez said.
She voted in favor of the bill passing, though she acknowledged paying for the street lights will be a challenge, given the deep — and growing — budget deficit lawmakers are grappling with.
“I don’t know where we’re going to get the money from, but I love the Navajo Nation,” she said, “I feel that we need to do everything we can to support not only the Navajo Nation but all our tribal nations.”
Navajo Nation Council Delegate Andy Nez, who represents the Fort Defiance community and the surrounding communities of Crystal, Red Lake, and Sawmill, told the committee that nearly 200 solar street lights have already been installed, and the bill would help the tribe finish the project.
“It’s an initiative that will bring safety and longevity to many of our community members,” Nez said as all of the routes purposed are situated near residential areas.
“We have to look out for our children’s safety, and this is one unique and tremendous way that we can do it,” he added.
Nez noted that Fort Defiance is home to several schools as part of the Window Rock Unified School District and many Navajo Nation services, such as Navajo Tribal Utility Authority, Tséhootsooí Medical Center, Forestry and others.
Committee Chair David Cook, R-Globe, voiced his support for the bill, highlighting how installing street lights on the San Carlos Apache Nation has saved lives because it has benefited the community and those who pass through.
Cook said that the bill does have a long way to go, but he is supporting it because he believes that rural Arizona citizens deserve.
The committee voted for the bill, but its ultimate success will depend on whether the Appropriations Committee — which oversees state spending proposals — includes money in the budget for the street lights. Afterward, GOP legislative leaders and Gov. Katie Hobbs must agree to the spending in the budget package which they will eventually negotiate in the coming months.
FORT DEFIANCE, Ariz. — The Navajo community of Fort Defiance sits between two mountain ridges, and that’s important to know, Rep. Myron Tsosie explained to his fellow state legislators last month.
“It is dark. It’s like walking around with your eyes closed,” the Chinle Democrat, one of three Navajo state legislators, said, giving his colleagues important context while asking them to provide funding for street lights to keep people safe when they walk home from school or work.
Tsosie’s House Bill 2539 would direct $3.5 million from the state budget to install solar street lights in Fort Defiance. The goal, he told members of the House Housing and Infrastructure Committee on Jan. 24, is to provide adequate lighting for students, teachers, and other community members in northern Arizona along three highly trafficked routes in the community.
The solar street lights would be installed along Bureau of Indian Affair Routes N110, N7 and N12 within the community.
Fort Defiance is located six miles north of Window Rock, Arizona, the capital of the Navajo Nation, and home to more than 3,500 people.
Tsosie said Fort Defiance is home to several schools, and when students and teachers walk home after school, they often do it in the dark because there are no streetlights along these routes.
“We’re looking out for their safety,” he said, and by putting up solar street lights, the community will be safer to walk around.
Rep. Teresa Martinez, a Republican from Casa Grande and the vice-chair of the committee, said she supported the bill because she has visited the Navajo Nation several times and understands how dark the streets can get compared to what people may be familiar with in other parts of Arizona.
“My heart goes out to the little kids because they have to walk home in the dark,” Martinez said.
She voted in favor of the bill passing, though she acknowledged paying for the street lights will be a challenge, given the deep — and growing — budget deficit lawmakers are grappling with.
“I don’t know where we’re going to get the money from, but I love the Navajo Nation,” she said, “I feel that we need to do everything we can to support not only the Navajo Nation but all our tribal nations.”
Navajo Nation Council Delegate Andy Nez, who represents the Fort Defiance community and the surrounding communities of Crystal, Red Lake, and Sawmill, told the committee that nearly 200 solar street lights have already been installed, and the bill would help the tribe finish the project.
“It’s an initiative that will bring safety and longevity to many of our community members,” Nez said as all of the routes purposed are situated near residential areas.
“We have to look out for our children’s safety, and this is one unique and tremendous way that we can do it,” he added.
Nez noted that Fort Defiance is home to several schools as part of the Window Rock Unified School District and many Navajo Nation services, such as Navajo Tribal Utility Authority, Tséhootsooí Medical Center, Forestry and others.
Committee Chair David Cook, R-Globe, voiced his support for the bill, highlighting how installing street lights on the San Carlos Apache Nation has saved lives because it has benefited the community and those who pass through.
Cook said that the bill does have a long way to go, but he is supporting it because he believes that rural Arizona citizens deserve.
The committee voted for the bill, but its ultimate success will depend on whether the Appropriations Committee — which oversees state spending proposals — includes money in the budget for the street lights. Afterward, GOP legislative leaders and Gov. Katie Hobbs must agree to the spending in the budget package which they will eventually negotiate in the coming months.