Business groups urge Spokane mayor to skip recall appeal

Newly released e-mails show how much public opinion has changed toward Spokane, Wash., mayor James E. West in the six weeks since his sex and abuse-of-office scandal broke. West received hundreds of e-mails beginning May 5, the day The Spokesman-Review began publishing articles alleging that he had used his city-owned computer to enter a gay Internet chat room and offer City Hall jobs and perks to men he met there. The newspaper also reported allegations that West sexually abused two boys decades ago. The mayor, who has denied sexually abusing boys or any wrongdoing in his internship programs but acknowledged having affairs with adult men, has refused calls to step down. Among the May 5 e-mails made public Tuesday was a letter of support from Anthony Bonanzino, chairman of the Spokane Regional Chamber of Commerce, who praised West as a "great civic leader" and "a person I am proud to call friend." On Monday, Bonanzino was among six business executives who sent West a letter urging him to allow a recall vote to proceed quickly. West's lawyers said he is still considering whether to appeal last week's ruling, by Benton County superior court judge Craig Matheson, that one charge on a recall petition--alleging that West "solicited internships for young men for his own personal uses"--was legally sufficient to begin circulating recall petitions. An appeal by West would mean recall supporters wouldn't be able to begin circulating signature petitions until the state supreme court rules, likely delaying a vote until early next year. The court takes a summer recess from July 1 to September 12. "We firmly believe that the sooner a full discussion of the issues and a public vote can occur, the better," the business leaders wrote. Bonanzino said he still considers West a friend but said he should resign for the good of the community. "You have to draw a distinction between Jim West the mayor and his function as the leader of the community and Jim West as a personal friend," Bonanzino said Tuesday after the e-mails were released. "I have not abandoned Jim West as a personal friend. But his admitted behaviors are such that I don't feel he can effectively lead the community forward." Among the correspondence released Tuesday was a March 27 e-mail from "Brock Stewart," thanking West for information on how to apply for a City Hall internship. West had written Stewart that a "friend" had told him Stewart was interested in an internship. Brock Stewart's screen name was Moto-Brock, a pseudonym for the Spokesman-Review's computer expert who engaged West in conversations in a gay chat room, by e-mail, and via instant messages for about six months before the newspaper ran its expose on the mayor. Executives of the Chamber of Commerce, Economic Development Council, and Convention and Visitors Bureau asked West to forgo an appeal of the recall ruling. "Today we ask you to honor your word by allowing the voters to express their opinion in the electoral process," the executives wrote. "While not perfect, the recall process will allow people to hear and consider your perspective and vote on whether you should continue in office." West's attorneys called the business groups' request premature. "Before making any decision regarding an appeal, we plan to review the recall hearing transcript and assess whether the judge's decision and his preparation of the ballot synopsis are consistent with the law and extend to Mayor West the same recall rights provided to others," attorneys Bill Etter and Carl Oreskovich said in a news release. City attorney Mike Connelly released seven binders containing copies of mayoral e-mails; the latest batch contains thousands of individual e-mails. More pages are expected to be released in the next few weeks. (AP)