Mike Prager

A Spokane city ordinance extending benefits to the domestic partners of unmarried city employees may be headed for the ballot this year. Opponents of the ordinance submitted 6,300 signatures this week from a petition drive seeking to reverse City Council approval of a "domestic partnership benefits" ordinance.

The drowning of a scuba diving student 17 years ago in Lake Coeur d'Alene has now become part of the misconduct controversy surrounding Spokane Mayor Jim West. West was the instructor during a 1988 deep-water dive in which 19-year-old Gonzaga University student Peter J. Boyce died. Sheriff's deputies at the time said no one was to blame for the death.

Spokane City Attorney Mike Connelly said Wednesday he expects to release within the next several days as many as five large binders filled with Mayor Jim West's office e-mails. They are among as many as 12,000 mayoral e-mails recovered from the mayor's computer after allegations last month of sexual impropriety against West.

Spokane City Attorney Mike Connelly on Monday named a fifth member to an independent panel that is being asked to investigate Mayor Jim West and his use of city computers and an internship program to solicit dates from young gay men. Nancy Isserlis, a principal attorney with Winston and Cashatt Lawyers, of Spokane, joins four men who were appointed by Connelly last month to the five-member panel.

A petition to recall Mayor Jim West has been certified by the Spokane County Prosecuting Attorney's Office, but it will take a judge from Tri-Cities to decide whether it moves ahead. Judge Craig Matheson of the Benton-Franklin Superior Court has agreed to step in because Spokane County Superior Court judges declined to take the case.

In the three weeks since abuse of power allegations against Mayor Jim West became public, Spokane City Attorney Mike Connelly has had as many as three attorneys and an office assistant preparing records for an independent investigation into the mayor's use of his office. The attorneys have been reviewing material captured from West's computer earlier this month.

The board of the Spokane Area Economic Development Council came out against Mayor Jim West on Wednesday, joining two other key business groups and a unified City Council in asking for West's resignation. Also on Wednesday, Spokane County Commissioner Mark Richard called for West to step down.

The Spokane City Council is expected to call for the resignation of Mayor Jim West when it meets next Tuesday. All seven council members are now part of a growing chorus of community leaders who want West to step down over sexual misconduct allegations.

Spokane Mayor Jim West returned to City Hall on Thursday, two weeks after news of a sex scandal surrounding his office became public and put his future as mayor into question. West met with his executive "cabinet" of top city officials at 8 a.m. and spent much of the day in meetings, said city spokeswoman Marlene Feist.

A Spokane resident, who finds herself reluctantly at the head of a movement to oust Mayor Jim West over sexual misconduct allegations, has filed a new petition to have him recalled by voters. Shannon Sullivan filed the new recall petition Wednesday to replace her May 9 petition, which was rejected by Spokane County's deputy civil prosecuting attorney Monday because it didn't meet all the requirements of state law.

Spokane Mayor Jim West's private legal bills stemming from allegations of sexual misconduct in office may be left for city taxpayers to pick up. City Attorney Mike Connelly said the city generally pays individual legal costs incurred by its elected officials. State law and city code may allow for the reimbursements, but the City Council would have to approve payment.

The Spokane City Council has approved hiring back eight laid-off firefighters because a series of illnesses and injuries has depleted the city's fire force and boosted overtime costs. A higher number of emergency fire calls, including house fires, has added to the strain on the existing force, Chief Bobby Williams said. Some firefighters were off duty because of injuries sustained on the job.

Mayor Jim West is privately being urged to resign by some of his most important political allies – leaders of the Spokane business community who fear ongoing damage to economic development efforts because of the sex scandal enveloping the mayor. West so far has resisted the entreaties and continues to believe he can ride out the controversy, according to a variety of sources – including some who talked off the record – familiar with the discussions and West's activities in recent days.

Opponents of an ordinance that extends benefits to unmarried partners of city employees filed a referendum petition Friday seeking to overturn the measure. Members of a group called Choice of the People now have a month to gather 5,145 signatures to force the measure onto the ballot this year.

Spokane City Attorney Mike Connelly on Wednesday asked state and federal authorities to conduct their own investigations into the sex abuse controversy involving Mayor Jim West. The move comes one day after the U.S. Justice Department in Spokane confirmed that the FBI has already started its own investigation into the potential for public corruption stemming from West's use of his office to entice young men into sexual relationships.

Spokane Mayor Jim West announced Monday he is taking a leave from office to give himself a few weeks to gather his thoughts and prepare a defense against "false accusations leveled against me." West made the announcement even as new allegations surfaced against the mayor that he had offered City Hall posts to two men he met online. Also Monday, the single mother of a 9-year-old Cub Scout filed a recall petition against West.

Spokane city officials Friday announced an independent investigation into Mayor Jim West's internship program and his use of city e-mail and the Internet. The investigation revolves around West's acknowledgement this week that he visited a gay chat room on the Web and had relationships with young men. Part of that activity occurred on city computers, according to information uncovered in an investigation by The Spokesman-Review.