Oops!
Spokane mayor regrets embarrassing personal life
01:17 PM PST on Wednesday, December 7, 2005
From KREM 2 News, NWCN.com and Wire Reports
SPOKANE -- Ousted Spokane Mayor James West says the past two years as mayor have been the best in his life, but he regrets an embarrassing personal life that led to his recall.
"I'm not angry at all. I'm in absolute peace," West said Wednesday, one day after the city's special recall election. "I lived and died, figuratively, by the voters for 25 years. This is my fourth or fifth election that I've lost. I've won many more."
West said he intends to sue the Spokane Spokesman Review newspaper, which published a series of investigative reports seven months ago that exposed he was going to an online chatroom for gays and offered a city job to a young man he met there. Those stories led to the recall election.
West says he intends to remain in Spokane after he leaves office December 16th and play a role in the community. He also says he may write a book.
Asked about his personal life, he said, “That’s none of your damn business.”
West said he feels strong and takes chemotherapy every other week for his colon cancer.
West offered to work on the transition to a new mayor. City Council President Dennis Hession will act as interim mayor until a new mayor is elected.
West said says he’s proud of what he’s done at City Hall, balancing the budget and helping improve the economy of Spokane. West has spent 25 years in public office and is the city's first elected chief executive to be ousted before his term expired.
Preliminary votes in
The preliminary results of the historic election as posted by the Spokane County Elections Office show "Yes" votes as 38,718 to 20,681 "No" votes.
Election officials have estimated that they will probably receive 3,000 to 4,000 additional ballots in the mail on Wednesday. Even if all of the ballots received are in West's favor, they would not be enough to catch up with the early returns.
It has been a long road for all involved in the recall election. The scandal broke seven months ago when the Spokesman-Review published their investigative report on the mayor.
The county elections office started counting the 60,000 plus ballots they had received at 9:00 a.m. Tuesday. They released the results shortly after 8:00 p.m. Tuesday evening. 110,000 mail-in ballots were mailed out by the elections office.
The election will be certified official on December 16th, the same day West must vacate the mayor's office.
West is accused of mis-using his office by offering a city job to a young man he met in an online chat room for gays.
West said he has made mistakes. He admits having relationships with young men but denies doing anything illegal. No criminal charges have been filed.
Earlier polls indicated about 60 percent of Spokane voters favored the recall.
Spokane mayor opponent hopes he 'moves on'
The woman who led the recall campaign against Spokane Mayor James West expected that he would be removed from office in Tuesday's election.
Shannon Sullivan said there was no doubt about the outcome because voters would not accept his behavior. He's accused of offering a city job to a young men he met in an online chat for gays.
Sullivan said it has been a seven-month battle that has consumed her life and left her frustrated.
She was an unemployed single mother with no political experience when she filed a recall petition, based on stories in the Spokane Spokesman-Review. She said it's been frustrating and she's not sure she would choose that battle again.
Sullivan said the mayor let the citizens down. She said it would not have made any difference if the behavior involved a young girl instead of a young man.
She said she hopes he survives his fight with colon cancer and "moves on."
KREM
Mayor was state Republican power
Spokane Mayor James West is a 54-year-old former Boy Scout executive and sheriff's deputy who was elected mayor in 2003.
Prior to that, he served 17 years as a conservative Republican state legislator who usually voted against gay-friendly legislation.
No charges have been filed against West, but the FB-I is conducting a public corruption investigation.
A lawyer hired by the Spokane City Council concluded the mayor violated state laws and city computer policies.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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