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Voters recall Mayor Jim West

From staff reports
December 6, 2005

Spokane County Auditor Vicki Dalton turns from the board and puts the cap on her pen after posting the recall results at the Spokane County Courthouse today. (Christopher Anderson/S-R) Mayoral recall: What's next

Spokane voters ousted Mayor Jim West today.

Preliminary results in the all-mail special election have 65 percent of the ballots marked in favor of the recall, and 35 percent against.

The 59,501 ballots counted represent 54 percent of the 110,589 sent to voters nearly three weeks ago. Ballots will continue to arrive at the elections office for the next several days, but the margin of support for the recall makes it mathematically unlikely that West can reverse the results.

The charge on the ballot, based on reports in The Spokesman-Review, said West should be removed for using “his office for personal benefit.” In his ballot response, West denied using his office for personal gain, said he had helped move the city forward by solving long-standing problems and better management practices, and apologized for “errors in my private life.”

Under state law, West will officially be removed from office on Dec. 16, the day the election results are certified. Council President Dennis Hession will become the mayor pro tem until the council selects a replacement to serve the remaining two years of West’s term.

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