Past problems an issue in Granite Falls mayoral race
Published 11:41 pm Wednesday, October 21, 2009
GRANITE FALLS — Each of the candidates for mayor here brings some things to the table that require some explanation.
Mayor Lyle Romack presided over the city during a time when it was found to have broken many state rules for financial management, which included questionable mileage payments to the mayor himself.
His opponent in the Nov. 3 election, Haroon Saleem, owns the Timberline Cafe in downtown Granite Falls, which was recently cited for serving alcohol to a minor. Its cocktail lounge generates more than its share of fights and arrests for drunken driving, according to police.
Romack has been mayor for six years. Saleem has not previously run for office. Saleem said he was motivated to run for the $1,000-a-month mayor job partly by what he believes is harassment against his business by Romack and city police.
In August, Saleem gained the most votes in a three-way primary with Romack and challenger Paul Lutz. Saleem had 218, Romack 209 and Lutz 183 votes in this town of 3,375 people.
The primary came on the heels of an Aug. 3 state auditor’s report that listed 22 violations in a two-year period of state laws and guidelines for accounting and reimbursement policies for government agencies.
The city may have overpaid more than $2,600 for mileage reimbursements for Romack and his wife in 2007 and 2008, according to the report.
Romack says he was entitled to most of the mileage payments. He has repaid $373.89 to the city from receipts that he said were mistakenly submitted twice. The city has hired new personnel and tightened its procedures, officials have said.
During roughly the same two-year period, the Timberline Cafe’s cocktail lounge is on record for 13 separate incidents with the state Liquor Control Board.
Last February, the establishment was cited and fined $300 for serving alcohol to a 20-year-old woman. She was an undercover employee of the Liquor Control Board, said Thomas Dixon, the board’s enforcement captain for a five-county area that includes Snohomish County.
Dixon said the board routinely performs such stings, or “compliance check operations,” at liquor-serving establishments. This was the first one at the Timberline since 2002, he said. Two other businesses in Granite Falls were cited the same day for the same violation.
Saleem, who served the young woman himself, said he checked her ID and it clearly showed she was over 21. That’s not the case, Dixon said.
Six times over the two-year period, Saleem received verbal warnings from the board either for overserving intoxicated patrons, serving to minors or for employees drinking on the job. Six other times, complaints were registered but investigators did not find sufficient evidence to issue a warning or a citation.
Dixon said the number of incidents associated with the Timberline is high but not at the top of the scale.
“There are some definite warning signs that it’s a possible public safety problem, but it’s not too far out of the norm,” he said. “We’re kind of on the yellow light, a caution.”
Saleem believes most of the complaints against the restaurant are orchestrated by Romack and Chief Tony Domish, possibly in retailiation for Saleem having complained about city policies.
“This has been a systematic campaign of destroying my business,” Saleem said.
Romack has said he and the chief have not targeted Saleem unfairly, that he believes that the police have good reason for keeping an eye on the Timberline.
Domish said the cocktail lounge at the business generates a disproportionate number of 911 calls for fights and drunken driving.
“I’ve had continuous talks with (Saleem) about the bar, and nothing,” he said.
Domish points to a recent incident as an example, in which a 27-year-old woman seen by a police officer drinking at the bar Oct. 4 later rear-ended a couple in a pickup truck, causing minor injuries to herself and the couple. The woman was later cited for drunken driving.
Saleem said he never had any trouble with authorities until the past two years. He said the allegation about a high number of arrests for drunken driving is not true.
“How does this happen for nine years that we are squeaky clean and all of a sudden we are the worst people on Earth?” he said.
Saleem said he’s running for mayor not only because of the dispute over his business but also because of the types of issues cited in the Auditor’s report.
“There is no accountability,” Saleem said.
He points to the violations detailed by the Auditor and notes that they carry no legal penalty. The Auditor’s Office monitors local governments and publishes findings for information and to help jurisdictions be more accountable to the public, officials with the agency say.
At the time, some city council members questioned the mileage payments to Romack but voted to approve them on the advice of the city attorney, who said the city could be sued if the payments were denied.
The city staff was in transition during the time the violations occurred, Romack said.
“I think the audit was a good thing for us,” Romack said. “We’re making changes to make the city function better.”
Regarding city issues, Romack said he has always believed the bypass road currently under construction will be good for business by taking trucks out of the downtown area.
Romack said he would like to create a large, outdoors sports complex for youth that would draw people to Granite Falls for tournaments. He said he has already talked with county and federal officials about getting economic stimulus money for such a project.
Saleem, too, would like to create a place for youth, a community center or Boys &Girls Club. He’d also like to draw a hotel to town, possibly with sports facilities.
His priority, though, Saleem said, will be “open, honest and transparent government.”
For more information on Saleem, go to www.saleemformayor.com. Romack has no campaign Web site.
Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439; sheets@heraldnet.com.
Lyle Romack
Age: 69
Occupation: Granite Falls mayor; former contractor
Haroon Saleem
Age: 54
Occupation: Owner, Timberline Cafe, Granite Falls
