Leadership at The Tulalip Tribes came out swinging in July against the Port of Everett's tax district and boundary expansion measure, Proposition 1, calling it an overreaching land acquisition and offense to the tribe in a letter.
The tribe also paid for a text message sent to voters this week to vote no. The ad says a no vote protects the tribe's treaty rights and sovereignty.
Voters outside the port's current boundaries are voting on Proposition 1. Ballots are due Tuesday, Aug. 6 by 8 p.m.
Behind the scenes, according to the port, after it met with the Tulalip Tribes' leadership to confer, the tribe's leadership had asked to be excluded from the boundary enlargement "or enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to outline partnership goals and provide a tax share provision to the Tribe," Port of Everett spokeswoman Kate Anderson said.
The Port's CEO wrote this offer for a Memorandum of Understanding still stands.
This information came from an Aug. 1 statement the Port issued addressing the facts of the Tulalip Tribes' letter.
The Tulalip Tribes, in their letter, agree they met with the port for information but were offended the port portrayed that meeting to the Snohomish County Council as if the Tulalips support the measure. The County Council voted to put the measure on the ballot.
"The Port attempting to annex Tulalip is disappointing," the letter from tribe chairwoman Teri Gobin reads. "This for-profit corporation masquerading as a government is trying to assert jurisdiction over Tulalip territory."
Later Gobin wrote: "The Port's attempt to tax and regulate those people living on the Tulalip Reservation is an affront to Washington's well-established respect for the territorial integrity of tribes."
The port can't get involved on campaign matters, its spokeswoman said, but can try to clarify facts.
The port's statement responds that its measure does not override the Tribes' rights. Other ports have tribal land inside their boundaries, the Port's CEO Lisa Lefeber wrote in the statement.
The port also said part of its current boundary map has included part of the southern portion of the Tribes' land since the port's founding in 1918.
"This ballot measure does not change any land ownership, nor does does it infringe on tribal sovereignty and treaty rights," Lefeber wrote in the port's statement.
The measure, if approved, does not give the port regulatory rights over the Tulalip Tribe, Lefeber's statement reads.
The Tribe wrote that they plunge money into the economy. "With all our contributions to provide for the public good, we are tired of being the only government asked to sacrifice."
Karen Guzak, the chair of a political action committee supporting Port Proposition 1 called Port Expansion for a Vibrant Future, said in a written statement that
"In the last days before the ballots are due to approve the expansion of the Port of Everett, letters to the editor and social posts mistakenly claim that the Port is trying to take tribal land. Which is untrue - a local jurisdiction would never be able to supersede land or treaty rights. My understanding is that the Port CEO started conversations with the tribes last November, and they were reviewing a draft Memorandum of Understanding from the Port regarding the boundary expansion effort, so we are all blind-sided and deeply disheartened by the misinformation campaign."
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The Tulalip Tribes' statement:
The Port of Everett's statement:
