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The 2023 Shelter Bay Board of Directors campaign trail crossed Rainbow Bridge into La Conner Monday evening.

A scheduled three-hour community members-only meet-and-greet with board candidates in the canopied Santo Coyote Mexican Kitchen outdoor patio area gradually shifted from mix-and-mingle to question-and-answer to a free-wheeling and often spirited discussion on a wide range of topics among attendees.

About 50 people participated on a come-and-go basis.

Seven candidates are vying for three board seats in the May 20 community election: Joe Hurley, Rick Parnell, Jan Paul, Julie Peddy, Rod Proctor, Marianne Remme and Larry Tagala.

Paul, Remme and Tagala provided biographical information at the sign-in table, where attendees gave their names and Shelter Bay lot numbers.

All candidates other than Proctor, who had a family emergency, attended.

The event effectively substituted for a planned Margaritaville Happy Hour gathering in Shelter Bay May 4 that was canceled due to rules banning use of community barbecue and social gathering areas for political meetings.

Despite being held in La Conner, Weekly News coverage had to be conducted from behind the roped off patio.

"Is this Shelter Bay property?" Publisher Ken Stern asked at one point, prior to leaving for Mount Vernon to take part in a League of Women Voters forum that ironically addressed the decline of local journalism and its impact on democracy.

Even those inside the ropes sometimes had difficulty hearing what was said given that there was much peripheral noise from nearby air conditioning units, street traffic and occasional aircraft.

During what appeared to be an impromptu Q&A session, candidates were asked about their respective levels of relationships with the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community and its leadership. That question was prompted by concerns over the inability to reach agreement on terms for a new master lease.

The 75-year lease, which required an act of Congress and allowed development of Shelter Bay on tribal land, will expire in 2044. That timeline has limited potential Shelter Bay homebuyers to either cash deals or 15-year mortgages instead of traditional 30-year notes.

The consensus view that emerged Monday was securing a new lease is foundational to addressing Shelter Bay's other priorities, including necessary upgrades to an aging infrastructure and restoring amenities such as the swimming pools, which have been closed for an extended period.

A couple meeting attendees said tribal leaders have recently been more receptive to negotiations, perhaps the result of efforts undertaken by former consultants Ava and Dr. Wil James, whose contract expired in March.

The couple, paid $10,000 monthly, produced a series of informational videos on the history of Shelter Bay and brought community and Swinomish residents together in what has been termed a productive open meeting at the Swinomish campus in December.

Board secretary Monte Hicks, who has proposed that Shelter Bay, Swinomish and the Town of La Conner join forces to develop a new community swimming pool, attended early Monday. Paul, who is not related to the Swinomish Paul family, echoed optimism that cooperation and collaboration is possible, citing prior negotiations with tribal leaders when she resided in the Pull-and-Be-Damned area.

"They were really reasonable," she said. "There was trust, respect and communication."

Hurley, an incumbent board member, said he has forged an amiable relationship with those Swinomish officials he has met.

Separate from the master lease is a rent adjustment schedule based on neighboring land values that takes effect every decade in years that end in 3. It, too, requires dialogue with Swinomish.

"We have to be real good communicators to improve relations with the tribe," Remme insisted. "We need to listen, but we also have to be darn good negotiators. They (Swinomish) have a team of lawyers who do a darn good job for them, as they should."

About an hour into the meeting, some nerves became frail and the situation briefly devolved into what one person in attendance called a "gripe session."

Board member Gary Ladd stepped up to calm matters, offering an overview of the rent adjustment process dating to 2003.

That moved the evening back to a focus on addressing Shelter Bay's pressing challenges and becoming better acquainted with the candidates.

At least on the latter score, tangible progress was made.

"I feel I got to know the candidates better," Paul said afterward.