Spokane Mayor James E. West Recalled

http://hosted.ap.org ^ | Dec 7, 2005

[sonsofliberty2000]

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) A tally of mail-in votes shows Mayor James E. West has been recalled from office over allegations he used his office computer to woo young gay men over the Internet.

[mirkwood]

What exactly does recalled mean?

[zbigreddogz]

Good. He should have left on his own.

I'm ashamed to admit the man was once the Republican Leader in the Senate from my homestate.

[AmishDude]

Ahem. How young were these "young gay men" exactly?

[Forest Keeper]

What exactly does recalled mean?

It means the tribe has Spokane. :-)

[martin_fierro]

[conservative in nyc]

More from signondandiego here:

The recall petition contended West used his political office for personal benefit by offering a city internship to someone he thought was an 18-year-old man he'd met in a gay online chat room. The person, who West knew by the screen name "Moto-Brock," actually was a computer expert hired by the [Spokane Spokesman-Review] to track the mayor's activities in a Gay.com chat room.

West, who has not been charged with any crime, acknowledged making mistakes in his personal life, but asked voters to give him a second chance.

The newspaper also printed allegations by two men with criminal records that West molested them when they were children and he was a sheriff's deputy and Boy Scout leader in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

I guess the Spokane Spokesman-Review is more honest in its reporting than the Washington Post. If the MD4Bush affair has taught us anything, the WaPo would have claimed the chat room messages magically appeared in its reporter's laps, without knowing how they got them.

Recalled=removed from office by a vote of the people before his term was up. Just like Grey Davis in California.

[CounterCounterCulture]

Dusting off a classic...

"The only way I can lose this election is if I'm caught in bed with either a dead girl or a live boy." - Edwin W. Edwards

[Diddle E. Squat]

I'm not defending the departing mayor, but has a newspaper ever hired someone to entrap a gay Democrat? Again, I have no problem with the media going after exposing politicians with improprieties, but am nearly certain that any Democrat in his position would have been given a free pass.

[sonsofliberty2000]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_E._West

James Elton West was the mayor of Spokane, Washington. He was recalled during a special election held on December 6, 2005. He must leave his office by December 16, 2005.

West is a native Spokanite. West served in the U.S. Army after high school and graduated from Gonzaga University with a degree in Criminal Justice in 1978. In 1982 West joined the Washington Legislature as a Republican and served until 2003, when he became mayor of Spokane. While in the legislature he served as Senate Majority Leader. While in the legislature, West voted in favor of many anti-gay bills, including one that would have banned gays and lesbians from working in schools and day cares. While in the state legislature, he also proposed to make a law that would ban all sexual activity among persons under the age of 18 (the bill failed). In 1995, when West was a state senator, he advocated the impeachment of then-Gov. Mike Lowry for alleged sexual harassment.

West is involved in sexual scandals as of 2005. He is accused of sexually abusing two young boys in the 1970s and 1980s when he was a sheriff's deputy and Boy Scout leader. West called the molestation allegations "flat lies," but has admitted to having private online relationships in the past year through the Gay.com website. [1] West confirmed the accusations of meeting men over the Internet but denied the charges that he has sought out minors. [2] Using the name "Right-BiGuy" he also offered internships to young gay men (some of whom were just graduating from high school).

There have been calls for him to resign as a result of the allegations. West defended himself in a May 30, 2005, Today Show appearance. In a Spokane City Council meeting immediately afterwards a resolution requesting that he step down was passed unanimously (7-0), yet West has announced he intends to continue on as Mayor. On June 2nd, the Spokane County Republican Party, Washington State Republican Party, and Spokane County Democratic Chairwoman Katie Kirking called for West's resignation.[3] The FBI and a special city commission are investigating to determine if any laws or policies have been broken.[4] In early August 2005, the FBI searched West's home and seized his personal computers as part of its public corruption investigation.

Shannon Sullivan, a Spokane citizen with no prior legal experience, has filed a recall petition. A Superior Court Justice threw out two counts on the petition and upheld one, Mayor West then appealed that ruling to the State Supreme Court. On August 24, 2005 the State Supreme Court ruled in favor of Sullivan, allowing the recall to go forward. Because the State Supreme Court heard and ruled on this case in an emergency session during their summer recess, they did not file and publish a full opinion following their ruling.

Recall organizers collected over 17,000 signatures and submitted them to the elections office on September 21, 2005. The elections office has determined that more than 12,567 of those signatures are valid, so a special mail-in election was held on December 6, 2005 to determine whether Mayor Jim West is to remain in office.

As expected, West was recalled by voters with 65% in favor of ousting him to 35% in favor of keeping him as mayor. As a result of the outcome West has to resign from office on December 16, 2005, the day the final votes are certified by the Spokane County Auditor's office. The ouster of West also marks the the first time in the history of the city of Spokane that a sitting mayor has been voted out of office. His duties will be turned over to city council president Dennis Hession, who will serve as mayor for the remainder of West's term.

[conservative in nyc]

Any politician who offers 18-year-olds internships for sexual favors ought to be recalled.

The New Jersey (and New York and Philly media) gave McGreevey a free pass until he outed himself. He was a corrupt slimeball, and the sex for political appointments (Homeland Security Director, in McGreevey's case) was just the tip of the iceberg. The media should have reported on that sooner.

I doubt you'll find more than a handful of elected Democrat politicians around Spokane, though. Western Washington is pretty solid Republican country.

[GeronL]

It mneans they will hold a new election to replace him, rather than wait till the end of his term

[Bogey78O]

Well it's expected of Democrats to be amoral sleazebags. We have a higher standard though in the GOP.

[taxesareforever]

It truly is sad that 35 per cent of the voters still think that it is okay what he did.

[conservative in nyc]

err... make that Eastern Washington.

[Zarro]

Yeah, I was gonna say.....

[conservative in nyc]

Being from New York, its usually the folks out west that are more conservative and Republican. I'm not used to looking eastward, like you need to do in Washington state!

[wideminded]

In 1982 West joined the Washington Legislature as a Republican and served until 2003, when he became mayor of Spokane.

Someone should edit that; you don't "join" the legislature. In any case it seems remarkable that he was elected only 4 years after graduating from college.

[NoCmpromiz]

laterping