GRANITE FALLS — Mayor Josh Golston has announced he will step down just before voters are set to consider a change in the city charter that would shift the power in local government from a strong mayor to the five-person council and a hired city manager.
Golston announced his resignation Wednesday evening. He and his family have decided to move to Oregon. Golston’s father-in-law owns a company there and Golston, 39, is the vice president.
Working long-distance and making trips back and forth from Granite Falls to Oregon was taking too much time away from his family, he said.
Councilman Matt Hartman is to step in as temporary mayor starting Oct. 31.
“This is hard, but it’s the right thing for my family,” said Golston, who has lived in Granite Falls for seven years and been part of city government for five years. “I obviously can’t be in two places at once.”
His hope as he leaves office is that his successor, Hartman, is the last strong mayor in Granite Falls, he said.
A proposition on the Nov. 3 general election ballot would change the current strong-mayor form of government into a council-manager system.
Generally, a council-manager administration is run like a business, where the manager oversees city staff and operations while the council acts as a board of directors. In a mayor-council government, the elected mayor manages staff and operations.
The city has eight employees and an operating budget of about $8.2 million.
If more than half of voters in the city approve the proposition, it would take effect in 2016.
Granite Falls would be the fifth city in Snohomish County with a city manager and the first in more than 13 years to win voter approval for a change of government. Snohomish, Mill Creek, Bothell and Mountlake Terrace also have council-manager governments.
Other cities have proposed similar measures that were voted down. Lynnwood voters rejected a measure in November 2010, as did Marysville voters in 2002 and Sultan voters in 2003.
Statewide, city managers are less common than strong mayors. Roughly 80 percent of Washington cities and towns have a mayor-council government, according to the nonprofit Municipal Research and Service Center.
The Granite Falls City Council voted 3-1 in March to put the issue on the ballot. It was Golston’s request and a key part of his campaign in 2013.
“I made it clear that my No. 1 goal as mayor was to work my way out of a job,” he said. “Having a strong mayor government has been a problem in Granite Falls in the past. We’ve been fortunate the past few years, but it could happen again where someone comes in with their personal agenda or not being ready to lead a city.”
Two of Golston’s recent predecessors made headlines for illegal or controversial activities.
Haroon Saleem was arrested after a family altercation at Sea-Tac airport; didn’t pay rent on his restaurant, which has since been demolished; and butted heads with two former police chiefs, one of whom resigned and the other he fired.
Floyd “Butch” DeRosia, another past mayor, was arrested outside Saleem’s restaurant during a drug bust and convicted in 2011 of selling marijuana.
It’s easier to hold a city manager accountable than a mayor, Golston said. Recalling an elected official is costly and time consuming, but a city manager can be fired if they do not follow the city’s codes and ethical guidelines.
Councilman Tom FitzGerald voted against putting the measure on the ballot. He worried about the city’s ability to recruit and pay for managers in the future.
He’s not entirely opposed to the idea of a council-manager structure, FitzGerald said at the time, just concerned about the longterm costs and the ability to draw quality managers to a small, rural town.
Like mayors, managers also can have their own agendas or poor leadership skills.
Two council seats also are up for election next month, but neither race is contested.
Hartman is running to keep his seat and Erin Hogan is looking to replace current councilwoman Tess Greene, who is not on the ballot.
Kari Bray: 425-339-3439; kbray@heraldnet.com.
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