Spokane city
council may take over investigation of mayor

The Spokane, Wash., city council should investigate whether embattled mayor James E. West violated city policies when he allegedly used the Internet to offer City Hall jobs to young men in exchange for sex, council president Dennis Hession says. An independent panel overseen by the city attorney took on the task but has disintegrated, with four of the five members resigning before they could get any work done. Hession said Tuesday he will propose to his colleagues that they invoke the council's broad powers to conduct investigations of city affairs. A vote could come as early as Monday. "The council does have the authority pursuant to state and municipal law to approve such an investigative committee, and it is my opinion that we need to step forward at this time to do so," Hession said in a memo to other council members. West has come under fire after allegations that he used his position as mayor as well as his city computer to offer internships and other jobs, gifts, or favors to young men he was seeking to date through Internet Web sites. A recall petition against the mayor is pending before the state supreme court, and the FBI is investigating whether West improperly used his political position. West contends he broke no laws. Hession's action was prompted by city attorney Mike Connelly's announcement Monday that he was resigning his post to become attorney for the adjacent city of Spokane Valley. Connelly seized West's computer records and formed a citizens panel to determine whether West violated city policies after the sex allegations surfaced in May. The effort was immediately criticized by council members, who said Connelly had a conflict of interest because the mayor was his boss. Former city councilman Steve Eugster sued the city, seeking to block the review. Four of five volunteer panel members resigned, and the review was put on hold. Hession said it would be unfair to expect Connelly's replacement to oversee the investigation. He said a council-authorized panel, if approved, would take on the task assigned the previous panel: to look into the mayor's use of city property and into allegations that he offered City Hall positions to potential dates. Allegations against West came to light starting May 5 when The Spokesman-Review newspaper outed West as a closeted gay man, with stories that he used e-mail meant for city business to offer an internship to a man he believed was a high school student. The man was actually a computer expert hired by the newspaper to confirm that West was seeking dates online. The consultant was hired by the newspaper in late 2004 after a teenager, now 19, reported that he went on a date and had consensual sex with West after meeting him in a gay Internet chat room. The newspaper investigation also included allegations by two men that West had molested them when they were boys in the late 1970s. West has vehemently denied those accusations. (AP)