SPOKANE – More than six in 10 people responding to a poll said they would vote to oust Mayor James West if a special recall election were held today, a newspaper and television station reported Thursday.
The telephone poll of 1,108 city residents who are registered voters likely to vote in the Dec. 6 special recall election was the first snapshot of how Spokane voters feel about West over a City Hall sex scandal.
The Research 2000 poll, conducted Sunday through Wednesday, was paid for by The Spokesman-Review and KREM-TV, which released results on their Web pages. It has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
“Fortunately the election is not going to be held today. The only poll that matters is the one held on election day,” West said.
The mayor said he was “not surprised, given the pounding of me the Spokesman-Review has done for the last six months, that people would be of that opinion.”
When asked how they would vote, 62 percent of those responding said they favor West’s recall. The poll found 29 percent against recall, with 9 percent undecided. The poll also showed dissatisfaction with West’s performance in office.
West faces a recall allegation that he used his office to offer to help someone he thought was an 18-year-old man in a gay online chat room get a City Hall internship. The chat partner was actually a computer expert hired by The Spokesman-Review to track West’s online activities.
The mayor, a former Republican state Senate leader, has acknowledged having sexual relationships with adult males but denies violating the law or abusing his office.
Subsequent Spokesman-Review stories about the contents of West’s city-owned computer hard drive showed the mayor sought to meet gay men while he was on city-sponsored trips.
Those polled were also asked whether a government official who used a government-owned computer for personal activity of a sexual nature should be fired.
Nineteen percent said the person should always lose his job, while 55 percent said circumstances should dictate whether the person should be fired or keep his job. Another 18 percent said the person should keep his job, but should face other consequences. Only 4 percent said there should be no consequences, with 4 percent not sure.
On the question of what the respondents thought of West’s job performance since he took office in 2004, the poll found 37 percent somewhat disapprove and 10 percent strongly disapprove, compared to 32 percent who somewhat approve and 7 percent who strongly approve of West’s performance. Another 14 percent were unsure.
West has said he will fight the recall with a campaign pointing out his accomplishments since becoming mayor. He also said he intends to make the Spokesman-Review’s coverage a campaign issue, alleging the paper invaded his privacy.
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