Problems for West Out East
With not much happening in our own city’s mayoral race, we thought we would look across the Cascades to eastern Washington and see what is happening in our sister city Spokane…oh my.
Not only did it get passed by Tacoma as Washington’s second largest city, but their mayor has just taken a leave of absence following a scandal involving gay chat rooms and charges of child molestation.
Last week The Spokesman-Review reported that Mayor James West had molested children in the late 1970s and early 1980s when he was a sheriff's deputy and Boy Scout leader. The paper also reported that, while mayor, he would often visit gay chat rooms and had once offered a City Hall internship to an eighteen-year-old male he had met online. The male turned out to be fictitious.
West denied the molestation allegations but admitted that he is a gay man.
Two non-fictitious men have come forward claiming that West had offered them jobs in similar chat rooms. The FBI is now investigating these charges. Many on the city council and in the community have called for him to step down; however, West has vowed to keep his job and is currently on a leave of absence.
In announcing his leave of absence West told the city council, "I hope that you and the people will reserve judgment on me until the newspaper is done persecuting me and allow me to have the fair opportunity to respond to each of the allegations in due time."
As if this story needed any more to make it stand out, West was a one time a Republican state senator who fought against gay rights. Although in recent days he has claimed that he is “being destroyed because I am a gay man.” Waaa?
It may be a while before we see Mayor West again.
