SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — In the two months since a sex and abuse-of-office scandal broke, Spokane Mayor Jim West rarely has ventured out in public, leaving to others the ceremonial activities usually associated with his office.
After the Spokesman-Review newspaper raised accusations of past pedophilia and offers of city jobs to young men he met in a homosexual chat room, Mr. West no longer was in demand for the ribbon-cuttings and speeches that normally are part of a mayor’s job.
The city’s Web site contains a calendar of the mayor’s public events. It was blank last week and for this week, and a new poll shows a majority of Spokane residents want Mr. West to resign, something he says he will not do.
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“It’s put the community in a very awkward position, and that is unfortunate,” said Mr. West’s friend Tony Bonanzino, president of the Spokane Regional Chamber of Commerce. “We have so many functions the mayor should be involved with, and it’s becoming very difficult.”
Mr. West, 54, has lowered his public profile since May 5, when the newspaper began publishing its series detailing chat-room and e-mail conversations the mayor had with someone he thought was an 18-year-old male high school student, whom he encouraged to apply for an internship in his office.
The e-mail recipient was, in fact, an adult with computer expertise hired by the newspaper.
Although Mr. West has not been charged with a crime, the FBI is in the initial phase of a public-corruption investigation. And a Superior Court judge ruled last month that a recall petition may proceed to the signature-gathering stage, though Mr. West’s attorneys are appealing that ruling to the state Supreme Court.
Mr. West, a conservative former state Senate majority leader who opposed pro-homosexual legislation, resigned from numerous civic boards and commissions after his public “outing.”
In tightly controlled press conferences, Mr. West has acknowledged having relations with adult males and apologized for “mistakes in judgment,” but denied pedophilia or abusing his position as mayor.
His once-warm relationship with the City Council has been strained since its seven members voted unanimously to ask Mr. West to resign, council President Dennis Hession said.
“A number of people have asked someone to substitute for the mayor, as well as his decision not be engaged in the public arena as he had been,” Mr. Hession said.
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