Here are some things you should know about Tim Graff, who in January will join Boulder’s City Council.
He is, first of all, persistent. He decided as a teenager in Helena that he wanted to fly helicopters, and applied to every military service branch. None would accept him without a college degree – except, finally, the Army National Guard, which supported his first two years at Montana State and then, two years later, invited him to flight school.
He believes in hard work. Graff says he has worked two jobs for most of his life, starting when he delivered both the Helena Independent Record and the Great Falls Tribune newspapers as a kid. He spent 38 years in the Guard while working full-time — the last 30 of those as a pilot for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
And he really, really loves Boulder. Graff moved from Helena three years ago with his wife Mary. They had always planned to move from Helena to a small town after Graff retired, he says; they settled on Boulder when their daughter Megan — now the city clerk — moved to town after marrying Justin McCauley, and then had twins. (Another connection: Graff’s sister-in-law Valerie Hartman is Mayor Rusty Giulio’s girlfriend.)
Tim and Mary Graff bought a home on Main Street, opposite Jefferson High School. He says: “It’s a small community, and I like that. You can’t have road rage going down Main Street, because everybody knows about it. And it doesn’t matter who you are, or how much you make, you’re part of this community.”
Graff joined the city Planning Board two years ago, he says, because he believes in service — “I can’t sit here and complain if I don’t put an effort in to help” — and because he felt it was time to give back to his community after decades of being consumed with work and his military service, much of that far from home.
As a Guard pilot, Graff flew in Iraq from 2004 to 2005 as a Blackhawk pilot in command. He went to Kuwait in 2011 and 2012, that time flying turboprop King Air planes, mostly on VIP trips. In 2015 and 2016, he was in Afghanistan, piloting data-gathering aircraft.
He also has flown helicopters to fight fires and with the Guard’s Security and Support counter drug unit, searching for marijuana grower in Montana, Idaho, and Washington. With the USDA, he piloted aircraft for animal capture and livestock protection.
A spot on the City Council will open up next year when Ward 1 Councilman Gyle Nix terms out after 4.5 years. Graff was the only candidate to file, and so will be elected by acclamation on Nov. 7.
That he stepped up makes sense to his daughter, McCauley. “When I was growing up, I always asked my dad, why did you join the military?” she said. And one of the big reasons was: If not me, than who? My dad has a real call to be involved, to put himself in position to serve others. That’s his thing with the Council, too. He wasn’t going to run, but no one else did.”
Graff says he plans to start his term by listening and learning. He says he doesn’t have yet have a concrete agenda, but he’d like to see improvements to Main Street, reviving buildings that are currently empty. “You don’t want to see a town dying,” he says. “This is what people see. Let’s make it look nice.” Likewise, he’s irked by residential properties with unkempt yards or abandoned vehicles.
And if he runs for Council again in four years, he hopes he’ll have inspired others to run against him.
“I’m hoping be a positive influence,” he says. “I’m going to be here for the rest of my life, so I hope to do some good.”
