Mormon. Small businessman with long experience in the food industry. Current chairman of the Utah Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission.

If you were writing a resume for a candidate to be executive director of the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, this one would look pretty good. It happens to belong to Sam Granato, and it sums up in a few words why he would be a good fit for the job.

The current director, Dennis Kellen, is expected to announce his retirement soon. When he does, Granato should be high on Gov. Gary Herbert's list of prospects.

If he's not, it will be because of politics. As chairman of the liquor commission, Granato has crossed swords with some powerful Utah senators, particularly Mike Waddoups, the Senate president, and John Valentine, the former president. Granato has been a vigorous opponent of the Legislature's ill-conceived cuts to the DABC budget. He particularly objected to the prospect of closing profitable state liquor stores, which are cash cows for state and local government budgets, and laying off a hundred or so employees during an economic recession.

Granato made the simple but obvious case that closing profitable stores was bad business. It could reduce state revenues by inconveniencing customers, and putting people out of work would contribute to local unemployment. His arguments made prohibitionist legislators look silly.

Mayors seconded Sam, explaining to legislators that liquor stores are retail anchors to some towns' struggling Main Streets and a critical block in the municipal tax base.

Granato also gets high marks from people in the hospitality industry, who said they were treated with respect when he was chairing the commission. That, apparently, was a big change. Granato also championed the public interest by holding commission deliberations for licenses in the open, rather than in secret.

It's ironic that Granato has been a political lightning rod, because he's a soft-spoken guy with an easy smile. But when it comes to liquor policy in Utah, even nice guys can make enemies when they stand up for moderation, civility and accepted business practices.

There's another thing that may hamper Granato's chances. He's a Democrat who ran for the U.S. Senate seat against Republican Mike Lee. Lee buried Granato at the polls, but Sam took it in stride, saying he had a lot of fun campaigning.

Moderation. Civility. Experience. Business sense. They sound like good qualifications to us.