In recent years, the relationship between the City of Everett and the Tulalip Tribes has been a picture of good intentions. Since a joint Governmental Alliance Agreement was signed two years ago, the two have been friends more often than they’ve been adversaries.
Now, they’re full-fledged partners.
In a groundbreaking achievement, the city and tribe agreed to a deal that will give the Tulalip Reservation a reliable water source for the next century, and remove a $37 million legal claim that had been hanging over the city since 2001. Both sides will invest $5 million to pipe water from Spada Lake to the reservation, and work together with the state’s congressional delegation to secure another $50 million or so to make this worthwhile project a reality.
That’s just the start of this partnership, though. The city and the tribe have gone beyond good intentions and put flesh onto a mutual commitment to seek common ground on future issues before going to court:
* Each will appoint a liaison to serve as an initial point of contact when public policy or legal questions arise.
* The Tulalip board of directors will meet annually with Everett’s mayor and city council to discuss matters of concern before they become disputes.
* If a dispute does arise, the tribe and city have committed to sit down in a good-faith effort to resolve it. If that falls short, either side can demand mediation. Only if that fails would expensive court action be an option.
Both sides are winners in this agreement. That doesn’t mean getting there was easy.
Years of mistrust on both sides had to be overcome through hours upon hours of talking – much of it blunt. Through sometimes tense negotiations, leaders on both sides – tribal board member Les Parks singled out former tribal Chairman Herman Williams and Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson – remained focused on an agreement and kept the talks moving forward.
The result will provide the tribe with the water it needs for economic development and fish restoration on the reservation, and the tribe will drop its claim over the loss of a salmon run created by the construction of a city diversion dam on the Sultan River. In addition, the tribe will support the city’s application to draw more water from Spada Lake, the source of water for some 80 percent of Snohomish County.
This agreement should serve as a model for others to follow, and it’s encouraging that the tribe and the City of Marysville are working on a similar agreement. We’re all neighbors in one region, after all, drawing on the same resources. Finding constructive ways to share them, rather than fighting over them, is good for everyone.
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