Kevin Siva, of Los Coyotes tribe and chairman of the Reservation Transportation Authority, addresses tribal summit participants at the Pala Indian Reservation.

Indian tribe representatives attach more importance to becoming voting members of the San Diego Association of Governments than do Sandag’s board, according to a poll taken at the San Diego Regional Tribal Summit at the Pala Casino near Fallbrook.

The poll showed that Sandag board members — elected officials from around the county — put a high priority on creating opportunities for pooling or leveraging funds for transportation projects beneficial to the tribes and local governments. Giving tribal representatives voting power on the board was not considered a high priority by its members.

The poll was a highlight of last month’s daylong summit, which attracted representatives from 12 of the 17 tribes in the county and 19 Sandag board members representing cities in the county and county government.

Officials from local governments and tribal nations were brought together through a collaborative effort between Sandag, the Southern California Tribal Chairmen’s Association, the Reservation Transportation Authority, Caltrans and county government. “All of these agencies participated actively in the planning of the event with the hopes that we would create a forum for discussion on issues of mutual concern,” says Jane Clough-Riquelme, tribal liaison for Sandag.

Tribal and Sandag members generally agreed on the next highest priority — developing a collective Indian reservation road inventory so that California gets its fair share of transportation dollars — the poll shows.

Clough-Riquelme says Sandag is required by law to consult with federally recognized tribes on regional transportation plans, but it has gone beyond those requirements by incorporating tribal government-to-government relations within its overall policies. The focus of the summit was on transportation because of Sandag’s responsibility in 2007 to update the Regional Transportation Plan.

“It was a really important diplomatic milestone to bring together the tribal leaders from the region and the Sandag board,” says Clough-Riquelme, assessing the summit. “We need to develop mechanisms for working together and this was a good preliminary step. There’s still a lot of work to be done.”

Clough-Riquelme says government-to-government relationships with tribal nations is critical for the entire region. “It is a question of respect and building relationships,” she says. “We have difficult issues to deal with, but unless we have a workable framework, we won’t be able to make progress. I believe we’re moving in the right direction.”