News
2005-08-25
Washington State
supreme court to hear arguments in West recall case
She had to wash a
lot of cars to get there, but unemployed Spokane,
Wash., mother Shannon Sullivan is in Olympi
She had to wash a
lot of cars to get there, but unemployed Spokane,
Wash., mother Shannon Sullivan is in Olympia, where she
is set to tell nine state supreme court justices
Wednesday why her recall petition against Spokane
mayor Jim West should be allowed to proceed."She's
nervous but confident," said her lawyer, Jerry Davis, who's
representing her for free.
Sullivan and several of her supporters held a
car wash two weekends ago to help cover her expenses.
Davis declined to say exactly how much money the car
wash raised, but he said they washed 102 cars—enough
to cover plane tickets from Spokane to Seattle for
Sullivan and her 9-year-old son plus modest hotel accommodations.
West has refused numerous calls for his
resignation since May, when The Spokesman-Review
newspaper in Spokane launched a series of articles
about how the conservative Republican—a former
state senator and longtime opponent of gay rights—was
meeting men in gay online chat rooms. The newspaper
hired a computer expert to pose as an 18-year-old man
on the Web site Gay.com and reported that in addition
to having sexually heated online conversations, West
encouraged the young man to apply for an internship at
city hall.
Sullivan contends that was inappropriate because
of the possible implication that the man would get the
internship in exchange for sexual favors. The
newspaper also reported that two men allege West sexually
abused them decades ago.
West has acknowledged being gay and meeting men
online for sex but vehemently denies ever abusing
anyone or misusing his office. He has not been charged
with any crime, but the FBI is investigating.
Sullivan filed a recall petition on three
grounds. Two of those were thrown out by Spokane
County superior court judge Craig Matheson, but the
petition was allowed to proceed on the remaining contention,
that West used his office for personal gain. The mayor
appealed to the state supreme court. If his appeal is
rejected, Sullivan and her supporters can begin
collecting the 12,600 signatures needed to force a recall election.
West's lawyers, William Etter and Carl
Oreskovich, have argued that Sullivan's recall
petition is based on innuendo and insinuation; that
newspaper articles are not proof of misfeasance; and that
Matheson went too far in rewriting the petition to
meet legal requirements after Sullivan submitted it.
Etter was not available for comment Tuesday, his
office said, and Oreskovich did not immediately return a
call seeking comment.
Lawyer Mark Hodgson, who has provided some free
legal advice to Sullivan and will argue in her support
Wednesday, insists he isn't out to hammer West. He
says he's just trying to defend the average voter's right to
petition for an elected official's removal from office.
"It's not our position to make value judgments on Jim
West," Hodgson said Tuesday as he prepared for the
arguments. "The main point I'd like to get across
tomorrow is that Shannon Sullivan has a right to this recall."
At this point, he said, Sullivan doesn't need to
prove that the allegations against West are true, only
that they are sufficient to warrant a recall vote and
that she has a reasonable basis for being aware of the
allegations. The truth of the allegations and their
significance is determined in the court of public
opinion when a recall election is held, he said.
The days leading up to the hearing brought a
flurry of legal filings, with West's lawyers on Monday
asking to include an additional Spokesman-Review
article in the court record. Davis objected to that
and suggested the request was simply a ploy to create
busy work for him with the hearing drawing near. He filed a
motion Tuesday asking the court to sanction them for
it. (AP)
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