Muslim immigrant in line for Granite Falls mayor

"I love you, man," the local gushed.

Saleem Haroon, 54, sporting a flag lapel pin that blinked frenetically in the dimly lit lounge of his Timberline Cafe, returned the hugs of a steady stream of well-wishers.

In this former mining town of about 3,400, where ethnic diversity might be described as not so much, Haroon was leading the mayor's race with 60 percent of the vote to incumbent Mayor Lyle Romack's 37 percent, although the mayor remained defiant.

"It ain't over till it's over," Romack said from his office at City Hall where he has filled the mayor's post for six years.

The apparent election of a Muslim immigrant who 30 years ago overstayed his visitor's visa and went on to become a citizen and business owner, surprised even friends and supporters.

"It knocked my socks off that he could get elected up there," said James Schermer, a Seattle attorney for the Washington Restaurant Association who has represented Haroon's business. "I mean, this is an old mining and timber town."

To the locals, the campaign wasn't about race or ethnicity, but about who had Granite Fall's best interests at heart.

A state audit earlier this year found that Mayor Romack had double-billed the city for almost $400 in mileage reimbursements and couldn't provide documentation to support more than $2,000 in travel expenses. The city also was faulted for missing records, failure to seek competitive bids for city equipment, and failure to record utility payments in a timely manner.

"The reimbursement issue upset people," said Carol Hutchinson, a former city treasurer who supported Haroon. "It sounds petty, but other mayors didn't bill the city at all."

At a crowded candidates forum in October, Haroon stood before the audience waving the audit and saying that Romack had broken the law.

The mayor struck back, calling attention to violations of liquor laws at Haroon's lounge including five verbal and written warnings since 2002 for continuing to serve intoxicated customers. Earlier this year, Haroon was fined $300 for serving a 20-year-old in a sting operation by the state Liquor Control Board. Two other Granite Falls bars were cited the same night.

The city police, who had once been regulars at the cafe, stopped patronizing the restaurant and the Police Chief, Tony Domish, told residents that he would resign if Haroon were elected.

The police chief's campaigning against Haroon, including going door to door with Romack supporters, prompted Haroon's lawyer to send a letter to the city warning against possible ethics violations.

"We questioned the appropriateness of a public official seeming to engage in active campaigning to the point of intimidating citizens," said Schermer.

Domish said he couldn't comment, but Mayor Romack defended his chief, saying, "He can do whatever he wants on his own time."

In a booth of the Timberline's cocktail lounge last week, Haroon said he tried to extend an olive branch to the police chief after the August primary election, when Haroon emerged the surprise victor in a close three- way race.

"I told him that the cost of replacing people is enormous, that we should let bygones be bygones," Haroon said.

Domish, he says, did not reciprocate. Of the police chief's threat to resign, Haroon says in mock seriousness, "That would break my heart," and then reels back in laughter.

Haroon tells a classic immigrant's tale of coming to America in 1979 as a young man seeking wider opportunities. He candidly admits to overstaying his visitor's visa and at one point, moving from San Francisco to Los Angeles to stay ahead of immigration officials. In 1987, when then-President Reagan extended amnesty to undocumented immigrants, Haroon became a legal resident and won his citizenship in 1995.

He married his wife, Bushra, in 1992. Their daughter, Nida, 11, was born in Federal Way.

During these same years, the Pakistani native worked his way up to management positions at a series of fast-food chains and was working for Shari's Restaurant in Renton in 2000 when he decided he wanted to be his own boss.

He saw an ad for the Timberline Cafe in Granite Falls and that August drove up to take a look.

"I saw this place and fell in love with it," he says.

"This place" is a warren of rooms. The front cafe features a tall pie case and windows overlooking the street. A hallway leads past pull-tab and lottery machines, past a sunken restaurant area to the cocktail lounge with a long mirrored bar and a stage for live bands. The afternoon air smells of stale beer and bathroom deodorizer.

Haroon is the genial host, greeting customers by name, moving between the rooms, signaling to a waitress when a customer's drink runs low.

He talks about arriving in town almost a decade earlier, knowing no one, a stranger with a foreign accent. He took his car for an oil change to Pilchuck Automotive, across the street from the Timberline.

"I shouldn't stereotype," he says from his seat in the lounge, "but the mechanic looked like a redneck." When Haroon came back to pick up his car, he said the mechanic refused payment and instead extended his hand and said, "Welcome to Granite Falls."

Again after 9/11, Haroon said, he worried about how he would be viewed. He says that residents repeatedly came up to him and said, "You're one of us. Let us know if anybody causes trouble." No one did.

Haroon acknowledges that serving liquor is at odds with his Muslim religion and says that his 82-year-old mother "would like to spank me." But he says he is not devout, and even has an occasional glass of wine.

"We're in the United States," he says, gesturing to his restaurant. "It's a legitimate business."

Although the results of Tuesday's election won't be finalized until later this month, Haroon is already thinking ahead to his new role as mayor. He wants to reopen the Boys & Girls Club that closed during the current mayor's term. He'd like to attract new businesses to town and to capitalize on the estimated 250,000 tourists that each year travel the scenic Mountain Loop Highway between Granite Falls and Darrington. He wants the town to belong to its citizens again.

"I have some great plans," he says.

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Information from: The Seattle Times, http://www.seattletimes.com