SPOKANE – Signatures collected by organizers of a recall of Mayor Jim West in a City Hall sex scandal were certified on Friday, sending the issue to the voters in a special election in December.
County elections workers stopped checking names and addresses on petitions Thursday after verifying 12,684 signatures – 117 more than needed to validate the petition, county elections supervisor Paul Brandt said.
The city of Spokane will pay the estimated $140,000 to $160,000 cost of the special election Dec. 6, Dalton said.
West is accused of using his office to set up dates with young men. He has acknowledged having relationships with young men but has denied doing anything illegal.
West said the results were not unexpected, and he plans to prepare a campaign to fight the recall, noting progress the city has made under his leadership.
“I look forward to the election Dec. 6,” he said. “It’s just like any other election.”
Rita Amunrud, chairwoman of the pro-recall Citizens for Accountability in Government, said the only progress she’s seen is more people living in poverty because of increased property and city utility taxes.
“It’s going push up the poverty level … and if he calls that progress, it’s only by virtue of the fact he can afford to pay a young man $300 to go swimming,” she said, referring to an openly gay man’s contention that West offered him money to swim naked with him.
Signature gatherers turned in 17,434 names on recall petitions, and about 20 percent were rejected, Brandt said.
West, 55, is accused of misusing his office by seeking dates from young men over a gay Web site and offering them gifts, trips and City Hall positions.
The FBI is pursuing a public corruption investigation. No criminal charges have been filed.
West’s troubles began in May when The Spokesman-Review began publishing articles implicating the former Republican state legislator and sheriff’s deputy in child sexual abuse in the 1970s. The articles also said he cruised a gay Web site for dates with young men. West has denied any involvement in child sexual abuse.
The campaign to gather signatures on recall petitions was led by Shannon Sullivan, who successfully argued her cause before the state Supreme Court in August after West’s lawyers appealed the ballot language.
State Public Disclosure Commission reports show that the campaign so far has been a grass-roots affair.
The Committee for Spokane’s Progress political action committee, which supports West, reported the mayor has spent about $85,000, mostly in legal fees, and has received $1,150 in campaign contributions.
The Recall Signature Team raised and spent about $3,500 in cash, and had about $21,600 in legal work donated.
On another front, West’s lawyers are seeking to block the public release of the contents of his office computer hard drive. A hearing has been scheduled for Wednesday before Judge Richard Miller in Adams County Superior Court.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
