Spokane, Wash.,
mayor James E. West used his city computer to check out
online profiles of gay men while traveling on official
business, The Spokesman-Review reported Saturday.
The history of the embattled mayor's computer
use was found in files buried deep within a compact
disc that City Hall attorneys released to the
newspaper this past week. The paper said the information
contradicted West's repeated claims that he did not
access gay Web sites during workdays.
Attorneys for West, who faces a December 6
recall election, defended him in a statement released
Friday afternoon. They said Web sites the mayor
visited while traveling in Washington, D.C., on March 22 and
April 5 and in Philadelphia on May 2 were made "after
regular business hours, Eastern Standard Time....
Mayor West has been up front from the very beginning,"
attorneys Bill Etter and Susan Troppmann wrote in a
statement e-mailed to The S
pokesman-Review.
"On May 5, 2005, the mayor stated he visited Web
sites but not on city time or at City Hall," the
statement said. "Mayor West was told, which is
consistent with city policy, that he could use the city
computer for personal uses when he traveled."
The city's Internet access policy allows
employees "limited use" of the Internet but says it
should not be used to access or transmit obscene,
profane, pornographic, abusive, harassing, discriminatory,
or threatening information, pictures, or
representations. Supporters of the recall effort
allege that West offered help in obtaining a city
internship to an online correspondent whom the mayor thought
was an 18-year-old high school student. They also
allege that he sent that person a photograph of
himself and "raised issues of sex, discussed dating,
and urged the person to keep Mayor West's identity a secret."
The 18-year-old was actually a computer expert
hired by The Spokesman-Review to verify rumors that
West was a closeted gay man who was using his
office for personal gain. The newspaper began
publishing a series of articles in May about the
mayor's secret life. West, a longtime Republican state
senate leader and opponent of gay rights, has
acknowledged making "errors" in his private life but
said he has been an effective leader for Spokane who
should remain in office.
On Friday, The S
pokesman-Review reported that West used his city
computer to access information about a gay man in Fresno,
Calif. The man's profile, on Gay.com, showed
that he lived in Fresno. The computer shortcut
was last modified at 12:18 a.m., April 15, 2005, a day
when city travel records show that West was in Fresno as a
member of the Strengthening America's Communities
Advisory Commission.
Further review of the CD shows that West also
used his laptop to access Gay.com at 11:49 a.m.
Pacific time on April 25, while he was in Denver
en route to Washington, D.C., and at 11:57 a.m. Pacific
time on May 2, while he was in Philadelphia, the paper
reported Saturday. Computer records show that West,
54, checked out 82 profiles of gay men, most of them
in their 20s, while in Philadelphia. The Internet
addresses leading to profiles of the gay men are contained
on a CD City Hall attorneys released to The
Spokesman-Review on Thursday.
West and his private attorneys did not object to
the release of the CD, which contains only a portion
of the material from the mayor's city-owned computer,
seized in early May. West is pressing a court fight to
prevent release of a second CD, which West's lawyers
have said contains offensive material.
In court last Wednesday, West's attorneys told
Adams County superior court judge Richard Miller that
the second CD's contents include the identities and
photos of hundreds to thousands of men whose privacy West
wants to protect.
Meanwhile, a young gay man who filed a sexual
harassment complaint against West in May has released
additional transcripts of their online conversations.
Ryan Oelrich, 24, was appointed to the Spokane Human
Rights Commission by West and later complained that the
mayor pressured him for sex.
In a detailed time line released Thursday to the
newspaper, Oelrich said he was first contacted by
RightBi-Guy in August or September 2003 on Gay.com and
later by Cobra82nd, who said he'd changed screen names. Both
were computer names used by West. Oelrich was a Gonzaga
University student at the time. After learning he was
corresponding with West, Oelrich said the mayor
promised to help him find a job, offered him a City
Hall internship, and continued to pressure him for sex.
"He also asked me to accompany him to a
[Gonzaga] Bulldogs game in California but told me
there would only be one bed in the hotel room and I
would have to share it with him. He told me he'd pay for the
expenses. I declined," Oelrich said. Another time West
dropped by Oelrich's home, offered him $300 cash to
swim naked with him, and continued to press him for
dates, Oelrich said.
Oelrich used the
online names GonzagaRy and HappyCollegeGuy in the
conversations. During Memorial Day weekend 2004, Cobra82nd
said he'd been working on his house. "Now I'm looking
for some cuddle bunny to nuggle with. You game?"
Cobra82nd asked.
"You will never score with me," HappyCollegeGuy replied.
Later in the same conversation, Cobra82nd said
he was getting a new Lexus convertible.
Cobra82nd: "You
think? Maybe I'll have to give you a ride? Maybe give
you a lil more."
Cobra82nd said he was buying the car because of
a "midlife crisis."
"Is it over?" asked HappyCollegeGuy.
"No, just starting.haha.need a sports car and a
new mistress you interested in being the latter?"
HappyCollegeGuy: "hmm, no. but best of luck
anyway." (AP)
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