Swinomish chairman attempts to quell concerns over tribe's plans; blasts county for sowing discord

ANACORTES — Swinomish tribal Chairman Brian Cladoosby told the Anacortes City Council on Monday night that local residents need not fear tribal action as portrayed in a recent letter from Skagit County commissioners, which he said purposely cast a negative light on the tribe.

Cladoosby took the floor for about a half-hour, during which he accused the county of spreading falsehoods about the tribe and compared the tactics to this year's caustic approach in national politics.

The county released a letter in early December that stated opposition to the tribe's effort to amend its own constitution. In that letter to the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, the county commissioners said approving the Swinomish constitutional amendments could give the tribe regulatory power over the Anacortes refineries on March Point, erode the refineries' ability to operate under consistent regulations and violate their constitutional rights to due process.

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