A hearing on the
legality of an attempt to recall Spokane, Wash., mayor
James E. West has been delayed by a last-minute court filing
by lawyers for the mayor, who is embroiled in a gay
sex scandal.
Meanwhile, city attorney Michael F. Connelly
said he would release as many as five large binders of
West's office e-mail within several days, material
drawn from as many as 12,000 messages that were found in the
mayor's computer, according to reports in The
Spokesman-Review on Thursday. The compendium is being
prepared for release in response to requests from news
organizations under the state's public records act.
E-mail considered confidential under state and federal
law--including material on personal health, city legal
matters, some personnel dealings, attorney-client
privilege, and privacy issues--will not be released,
Connelly said. "We are going to try to err on the side
of fullest disclosure if we can," he said Wednesday.
"Anything we don't release we'll identify."
In court William F. Etter, a lawyer for West,
handed Shannon Sullivan the mayor's response to her
recall charges moments before the hearing began
Wednesday. The 14-page brief argued that the recall petition
should be dismissed as "vague, imprecise, conclusory,
and factually and legally insufficient." Visiting
Benton County superior court judge Craig J. Matheson
continued the hearing until Monday to give Sullivan time to
read and respond to the brief. "I just want to make
sure we get a reasonable opportunity for both sides to
be heard," Matheson said.
Matheson must determine whether the three recall
charges against West are legally and factually
sufficient to proceed. Spokane County judges recused
themselves, citing West's previous work as a sheriff's
deputy and his long involvement in local government
and politics.
Sullivan, representing herself without a lawyer,
said she was surprised by the last-minute filing but
grateful for additional time "to do my homework." "I
have faith I can prove the allegations in my
petition," she said outside the courtroom. West, who has
denied breaking the law, said last week he expects the
recall effort to fail.
Should Matheson allow the recall to proceed,
Sullivan would have six months to collect at least
12,600 valid signatures of registered voters to put
the issue on the ballot. She started the campaign accusing
West of misfeasance after The Spokesman-Review
reported that he used a city-owned computer to interact with
young men on a gay Web site. She said he solicited
young men to become interns "for his own personal
purposes" and hurt the city's reputation. Sullivan
said she acted after finding herself at a loss to explain
newspaper reports of West's behavior to her son.
The Spokane city council, local and state
Republicans, and some local civic and business groups
have asked West to step down. Under the city's
strong-mayor system of government, however, only a recall
can remove him from office.
In a series of articles beginning last month,
The Spokesman-Review reported claims by two
men that West molested them when they were children
and he was a sheriff's deputy two decades ago. West
has vehemently denied those allegations. The newspaper also
reported that West more recently visited an Internet
gay chat room and tried to entice young men he met
there with offers of perks and City Hall jobs. He is
also accused of sexually harassing an openly gay man he
recommended for an appointment to the city's Human
Rights Commission.
West was elected mayor in 2003. Before that he
was a longtime legislator who rose to become one of
the state's most powerful Republicans as senate
majority leader. West regularly voted against gay rights
measures in the legislature but--after the newspaper
articles appeared--acknowledged having sexual
relations with adult men. The mayor, who has 2 1/2 years
remaining in his four-year term, has said he does not intend
to resign and will be vindicated by investigations by
the Justice Department and an independent panel
appointed by the city attorney. (AP)