Is support for Granato eroding?

YAKIMA, Wash. -- For years, Sam Granato has had a stormy relationship with the police union. And for years, the Yakima City Council has stood by him.

That could change, however, given the council's cautious reaction to a recent complaint accusing the police chief of sexual harassment. On Friday the complaint morphed into a formal legal claim against the city for $3 million.

The claim, filed on behalf of an officer named Stacey Andrews, is a threat to sue and accuses Granato of sexual harassment and retaliation. A copy of the claim was not immediately available.

It's the latest legal flap over-shadowing Granato's six-year tenure. And the timing couldn't have been worse, coming on the heels of other new claims by disgruntled officers. All told, nine lawsuits or legal claims have been filed by police officers or civilian employees over the past 13 months. The case of fired Officer Mike Rummel, who recently committed suicide after a police pursuit, was viewed as something of a test of wills between Granato and Sgt. Bob Hester, a longtime leader of the union.

Also in the mix is a performance audit last year that criticized Granato's command staff as disloyal. Meanwhile, there's been tension in the law enforcement community involving the chief's dispute with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration over the management of a local task force.

Councilman Neil McClure suggested that Granato's battles with the union over the past few
years have contributed to a negative atmosphere in Yakima that he compared to a "dripping faucet."

"It just seems like he's got a target on his back," he said of the chief.

Many of the lawsuits or claims involve the verbal harassment of a civilian employee who has a speech impediment at the Police Athletic League. Others have accused Granato of retaliation or bad decisions about job transfers and assignments. But the new sexual harassment claim from Andrews is more personal than that, and union leaders have taken pains to note the difference.

"This isn't a grievance of ours," said Detective Mike Nielsen, who became president of the union last month after Hester's retirement. "Beyond that, it wouldn't be appropriate for me to comment."

City officials have been similarly tight-lipped. They won't discuss either the specifics of Andrews' complaint or much about the internal investigation now in progress.

City Manager Dick Zais said Saturday that a preliminary investigation by local attorney Rocky Jackson is under way and there's no timeline on when it's expected to be done.

Zais said he was sur-prised that Bill Pickett, a Yakima attorney rep-resenting Andrews, filed the claim before the city wrapped up its internal investigation.

"He apparently didn't want to wait," said Zais, who is also named as a defendant in the claim.

Pickett on Saturday questioned the impartiality of the city investigation, given recent comments suggesting that Granato might countersue his accuser for defamation when a legal claim had not yet been filed.

Those comments, published in a Feb. 6 story in the Herald-Republic, were made by Seattle lawyer Bob Christie, who has been retained by the city to represent the city and Granato against a possible lawsuit by Andrews.

"I'm not aware of a situation where a lawyer representing the city and (a supervisor) threatens to countersue when there's not even a claim yet," Pickett said. "What kind of investigation is the city doing?"

Granato hasn't respond-ed publicly to the sexual harassment complaint but has said he's closely managed by Zais and that
all of his personnel decis-ions have been backed by City Hall.

Council members, meanwhile, have been hesitant to talk about the chief. The lone exception has been McClure, who says he supports Granato -- to a point.

"I'm a big believer that
people are innocent until
proven guilty, and Sam's been a big asset to this city," he said. "But sexual harass-ment is not something that can be condoned."

Part of the challenge for council members is that so much of the controversy around Granato has been wrapped up in the chief's acrimonious relationship with the union.

McClure said he believes Granato, who was hired in the summer of 2003, went through a rough learning curve due in large part to the stronger protections Washington state has for unions than Texas, where Granato spent most of his career. It was also the first time in memory that a Yakima chief had been hired from outside the ranks.

During his tenure, Granato has been praised for forming a gang enforce-ment unit. He's also drawn
political support for insti-tuting emphasis patrols, scheduling changes that improved morale and, more recently, hiring a crime analyst. Last year, the city touted new statistics showing Yakima's overall crime rate has dropped to levels not seen in decades.

McClure said he witnessed firsthand the union's hostility at a meeting in 2006 in which union leaders complained bitterly about random drug testing of officers, which Granato began touting not long after he started. To date the union has blocked the proposal, arguing that drug testing would infringe on individual privacy.

During the meeting, according to McClure, union leaders went on the offensive and began making accusations against the chief that McClure characterized as both hypocritical and a "litany of hearsay and out-there innuendo."

"It was just stuff that was really unrepeatable in a lot of ways," he said. "I was flabbergasted by it."

Mayor Dave Edler, who was also at the meeting, said he agreed with McClure's assessment and accused the police union of being "pretty aggressive in trying to cause problems for our chief."

But the mayor said he hopes for a fresh start now that Hester has retired. He wouldn't comment on whether a fresh start was possible unless Granato goes, too.

As for the sexual harassment complaint, the mayor was terse.

"I'm aware of the com-plaint, aware it's being investigated," he said in an interview before Andrews' $3 million claim was filed. "We just have to wait and see."

Councilman Rick Ensey said he respects Granato for having "stood up" to the union but is worried that where that there's smoke, there's fire.

He said he recently made his views on the subject known to Zais.

"I can't see how all these lawsuits are just because he made the union mad," Ensey said, adding, "How many more might come up? I'm concerned. I told Dick I'm concerned, and I'm a little lost about what needs to be done."

Councilman Bill Lover warned the public not to read too much into the council's cautious attitude.

"It's still an allegation," he said of the sexual harassment claim. "Until it comes further, there's nothing to comment on. It's just got to develop more."

Councilmen Micah Cawley, sidestepping any direct comment about Granato, said he's tired of the political infighting and wants to remind everyone that the city crime rate is still among the worst in the state. In 2007, there were 76.3 incidents per 1,000 residents, according to the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs.

"It boils down to this," Cawley said. "At the end of the day, are we fighting crime and working togeth-er? Because if either side
loses sight of that, they're going to have some prob-lems."

Sonia Rodriguez, the
council's newest member, said it's too soon to com-ment. Like other members of the council, she said she's mostly in the dark about the investigation.

"Sexual harassment itself is very concerning," she said. "On the other hand, I don't know the exact nature of all the allegations. We've just got to trust the process of an independent investigation."

Councilwoman Kathy Coffey declined to comment.

* Chris Bristol can be reached at 577-7748 or cbristol@yakimaherald.com.

* Yakima Herald-Republic reporter Mark Morey contributed to this report.