A history making fish-damage settlement forged by the leaders of the Tulalip Tribes and the City of Everett is expected be the impetus for moving the 2-year-old Memorandum of Understanding between the tribe and city to new and higher level.
The MOU was adopted with the spirit and intent of cooperation, communication and respect between the two parties in mind and hopes of avoiding costly court battles where often, nobody wins but the expensive attorneys. The MOU has caused reverberations statewide and back to Washington D.C., where leaders are closely monitoring the progress of the monumental agreement.
The efforts of the tribe and city will benefit their people for generations to come. Leaders from each side are to be commended for their forward-thinking vision and their willingness to set their differences aside and agree to disagree without using litigation as a first resort. Such agreements will forge new paths for Tulalip to consider, never forgetting of course where we came from as a Native American people and as the region’s first citizens.
The Tulalip Tribes have come a long way in a relative short period of time and recognize their role as a regional player and that the result of decisions we make at the tribal level often affect you as a region. The economy, the environment and the infrastructure are something we all share and have a vested interest in. Accordingly, it’s in everybody’s best interest to work together toward common goals.
The Tulalip Bay Leasing Program, shorelines management, Cama Beach ancestral remains, the Boeing pier and reservation jurisdictional issues are good examples of tribal movements that have a direct impact on our tribal members and yet affect our other Tulalip reservation residents and others in the region. Thus the concept of agreeing to disagree is important to all of us.
The tribal economy we have been building for years now employs 2,200 regional residents and that number will swell to 2,700 in two years and 3,000 within five years. More than 75 percent of those employed by Tulalip are not tribal members.
Factor in our Quil Ceda Village tenants with their current 1,600 employees and our global tribal economy of 3,800 employees injects nearly $140 million of payroll into the region. Additionally, the tribe and its Quil Ceda Village tenants buy their goods and services from the region. All in all, Tulalip is directly responsible for $500 million being injected into the region. As we escalate our goals to become a destination-type resort, the money injected into the region will grow exponentially with the attracted tourism.
We are proud of our accomplishments and honored to be recognized as a major regional player. Working cooperatively with our neighbors such as Everett benefits all. We applaud the city for its efforts. We will endeavor to establish similar agreements with other municipalities with the same spirit of cooperation.
The tribe and its membership, now approaching 4,000, are recognized as one of the most advanced Indian nations in the country. A few tribes may be in a better financial position but the Tulalip Tribes are second to none when it comes to economic diversity and stability. Our membership is business savvy, carefully thinking out every move. No less than twice per year, the membership gathers to discuss what has been accomplished in the past year and to discuss what may be forthcoming. Today, the chairman of the tribe will convene one of those meetings. It is with great honor that we elected officials serve the membership of Tulalip, being able to implement the hopes and dreams of a nation once nearly annihilated.
On behalf of the membership of the Tulalip Tribes, I would like to extend our sincerest thanks to Mayor Ray Stephenson and the entire City Council for their vision and respect and to the good city residents who put these wonderful people in office. They have nothing but the best interest of their people at heart. Years down the road, these people will be remembered for the path they have forged for this region.
As we are all regional players, the decisions we make in our respective board rooms affect more than our own constituents. The respect and trust that an MOU built is truly history in the making. Let this lesson be learned by tribes and municipalities all across the nation.
Les Parks is a member of the Tulalip Tribes Board of Directors.
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