News
2005-11-22
Investigator:
West violated city's Internet policy
A private
investigator hired by the Spokane, Wash., city council says
Mayor Jim West violated the city's Internet policy and state
A private
investigator hired by the Spokane, Wash., city council says
Mayor Jim West violated the city's Internet policy and state
law, according to a new report.
In the 18-page report, Mark Busto, who is also a
lawyer, concluded that the mayor broke state law by
offering a position on the city's Human Rights
Commission to a young man he pursued for a sexual
relationship. West also violated the city's personnel
policy on Internet access by "frequent and extensive
use" of his city computer to browse pictures of men
posted at Gay.com, according to the report. An account of
the report was carried in Saturday editions of The Spokesman-Review.
Busto concluded that West used his city-owned
computer during the workday to view profiles and
pictures of gay men posted at the Gay.com site. The
mayor, who faces a December 6 recall election over the sex
scandal, has repeatedly denied using his office for
personal gain and notes he has not been charged with
any crime. He has also denied using his city computer
to visit the Gay.com Web site during the workday.
"I find that Mayor West has engaged in a pattern
and practice of linking discussions of sex with young
men online with offers of city positions, both paid
and unpaid," Busto said in his report.
West denounced the report and its conclusions
Friday night, saying it is politically timed to
influence voters. Ballots for the recall election were
mailed Friday. "He's not a judge, he's not a jury," West
said of Busto. "I don't think a jury or a court of law would
come to the same conclusion."
Also Saturday, a poll commissioned by KREM TV
and The Spokesman Review newspaper showed voters
holding virtually the same positions noted in a late October
survey. The new poll by Research 2000 found 62% of
voters would support West's removal from office if the
election were held now, with 29% opposed and 9% undecided.
A total of 1,100 people were called for the
poll, which had a three percentage-point margin of error.
The mail-in recall ballots contain a 119-word
charge alleging that West used his elected office for
personal benefit by offering an internship with the
expectation of sexual relations to someone he thought was an
18-year-old man he met in a gay-oriented chat room. The
mayor's 237-word rebuttal is included on the ballots.
The council hired Busto, a Bellevue attorney, in
September after West refused to heed earlier council
votes calling for his resignation. Under the current
city charter, the city council doesn't have the power to
impeach or remove the "strong mayor," the city's chief
executive. (AP)
Click here to follow The Advocate on Twitter.
Page 1 of 1