West says he’s changed his ways

Spokane Mayor Jim West said he’s found a new relationship with God and has redoubled his effort to manage the city in a new e-mail made public on Friday.

The e-mail dated Thursday surfaced during Friday’s broadcast of the Mark Fuhrman Show on KGA Radio.

West later on Friday confirmed that he wrote the e-mail in response to a citizen who sent him a message telling him to resign, pack his luggage and move to San Francisco “where your lifestyle is accepted.”

The e-mail came one week after West appeared before news reporters and said he intends to continue being mayor despite allegations of sexual impropriety during recent years and in the 1970s when he was a sheriff’s deputy and Boy Scout leader.

West said he intended the e-mail as a private communication with a citizen and did not want it disseminated to the public. “My private life is my private life,” he said on Friday.

West acknowledged having relationships with adult men after a newspaper investigation showed that he had been seeking dates on a gay Web site. He has denied as “flat lies” allegations he molested two boys in the 1970s.

In Thursday’s e-mail, West wrote:

“I appreciate your comments but like King David in the Bible I will be a better mayor now. I will be more focused and more driven to see this city succeed in all areas. My faith in Jesus Christ and the Lord tell me this will be done.

“This episode has done four good things for me so far and more are on the way.

“1. I have stopped a behavior I wanted to stop but couldn’t do alone but didn’t know how to ask for help to end. Now I’m sleeping better and am more focused on important things, particularly my job.

“2. The early stress took away my appetite and I lost 10 pounds. Now I’m exercising and watching what I eat better. I’ve lost five more pounds and hope to lose another 10. I feel better and healthier than I have in years.

“3. Friends I haven’t heard from in years, including former Boy Scouts, have called to wish me well and encourage me. Many have written or have called to let me know the difference I made in their lives and the help I have given them. Several attributed their current success to guidance and advice I had given them at a critical point in their life. I’ve learned I have many new friends as well. It’s nice to hear this before you are laying in a coffin at your own funeral.

“4. I’ve decided to fill the emptiness in my life that I was trying to fill through other means with a relationship with God. I’m reading a proverb and three psalms a day and am attending church on a regular basis for the first time in my life and it’s been wonderful and I’ve felt very welcomed. I also meet weekly with a few pastors and they are very supportive.

“I am also leading the senior staff of the city of Spokane to new heights and demanding results on a fast track. I don’t know how many more days the voters of Spokane will give me as the mayor so I have a lot to get done in a very short period of time.

“Again, thank you for your concern. God has forgiven me and that’s all I need.”

Signed,

James E. West, Mayor, City of Spokane.