Tuesday, February 9, 2010

A SPOKESMAN-REVIEW INVESTIGATIVE REPORT

Republicans urge West to quit

Jim Camden / Staff writer

June 3, 2005

© The Spokesman-Review 2005

Jim West should step down as mayor immediately because the citizens can no longer trust him, local and state Republican Party officials said Thursday afternoon.

Flanked at a downtown press conference by some of West's former legislative colleagues and other political allies, Spokane County Republican Chairman Mike Casey called on the mayor to resign so the city can "move forward to new leadership that serves the values and principles that our party can support."

A few minutes later, Washington State GOP Chairman Chris Vance issued a statement by e-mail supporting the call for resignation. The local party is "closest to this situation and we trust their judgment," he said.

With GOP members behind him, Mike Casey, chairman of the Spokane County Republican Party, asks for Jim West's resignation at a press briefing. (Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review)

In a rare sign of bipartisan agreement, Spokane County Democratic Chairwoman Katie Kirking also called on West to resign immediately "for the good of the city of Spokane and its people."

But Eastern Washington's highest ranking Republican, U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris, said that while she is "saddened and deeply disappointed" by the mayor's alleged and admitted actions, she believes the decision to stay or leave should be left up to West.

"I have met privately with the mayor and have encouraged him to seek help and to be honest and open about his actions. I hope he will do just that," McMorris said in statement released Thursday evening. "At this time the decision on whether or not to resign can only be made by one person, Mayor West. Ultimately it is his decision."

The mayor was returning to Spokane from a conference in Florida and could not be immediately reached for comment, his attorney Bill Etter said. West has scheduled a press conference for this evening at which he is expected to respond to allegations that first surfaced in a series of stories The Spokesman-Review began publishing on May 5.

Those reports found the mayor had offered gifts, sports tickets, travel, city positions and City Hall internships to young men he was seeking to date through a gay chat line. One of the men was actually a computer expert hired by the newspaper to confirm the mayor's activities. The expert posed as a 17-year-old high school student about to turn 18. Transcripts of the exchanges between West and the expert have been posted on the newspaper's Web site and excerpts were published in the newspaper on May 5.

The newspaper investigation also included allegations that West sexually molested two boys in the late 1970s and early 1980s when he was a deputy sheriff and Boy Scout leader.

County Republicans' press conference

West has strenuously denied the allegations of molestation but has acknowledged he visited the chat line "and had relationships with adult men." He has also admitted to using poor judgment.

"As Republicans, we hold all elected officials to the highest standards of the community, and we cannot condone irresponsible behavior or poor judgment," Casey said.

West has every right to defend himself against any criminal allegations in court, he said, adding the mayor's admission of being homosexual or bisexual "had nothing to do with our decision."

County Republicans had declined to comment on West for nearly a month. That was partly because Casey was out of town for much of that time, he said.

"Secondly, we wanted to give the mayor a good opportunity, if the thinking was a little clouded on the first blush of this revelation, to give him time to come to his senses … and do what we expected him to do," Casey said. "If he truly loves this city, (he should) do the best deed he could, and that is to step down and resign."

Because West shows no sign of doing that on his own, the local party was taking a stand that may be unprecedented, calling for a local official to resign.

Shaun Cross, a local lawyer and former GOP congressional candidate, said the party's statement may have an effect on some longtime Republican supporters who have been urging West to stay in office and fight. West has said his e-mails are running 2-to-1 in favor of remaining in office.

"Some of those positive e-mails may be coming from the Republican base," Cross said.

State Rep. John Ahern, who represents the same legislative district where West served for two decades, said he couldn't recall another time when the local GOP had taken such a step. Neither could Jim Robinson, a former party executive director.

Vance said such requests are "exceedingly rare" on a state level.

"It's never happened since I've been chairman," he said.

The Republican National Committee declined to comment. "We are not going to weigh in on this today," a spokeswoman said.

Last week, the Spokane Regional Chamber of Commerce and other local business groups called for West to step down. On Tuesday, the Spokane City Council unanimously approved a resolution calling for his resignation, although the council cannot force the mayor out of office.

Local Democrats have not had a meeting since the allegations surrounding West were first reported, Kirking said. But they do have a regular quarterly meeting Monday evening, and the topic of West and a possible recall effort are likely to come up.

"I would assume that we would" support the recall effort, Kirking said.

The local GOP is not getting involved in the recall, Casey said: "At this point, we have no stand on that."

A Superior Court hearing on whether the recall petition has facts that are sufficient to put the recall on the ballot is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Spokane County courthouse.