Hession becomes new mayor

Dennis Hession was en route Friday to his son’s college graduation today in Omaha, Neb., when he became Spokane’s newest mayor.

The Spokane County election canvassing board certified the recall of Spokane Mayor Jim West at 9:44 a.m., automatically elevating Hession from his position as City Council president to acting mayor.

Hession is expected to be appointed to fill the remaining two years of West’s term by the City Council on Monday, either at its 3:30 p.m. briefing session or 6 p.m. legislative meeting. Those public sessions are televised on cable Channel 5.

“What I really feel is a sense of relief because of our need to move on. This is just the first day of that, the beginning of that,” Hession said in a telephone interview after arriving at Creighton University in Omaha.

West started the day with breakfast at the Spokane Club with key members of his executive team, a group that he dubbed as his Cabinet during his two years in office.

Over plates of eggs, West and his staff talked about that time together in what some staffers later described as a wistful goodbye.

“To his last day, he stayed on task,” said Chief Financial Officer Gavin Cooley, who was at the breakfast. “There was no anger.”

West returned to City Hall briefly and sent a goodbye e-mail to all city employees thanking them for “allowing me to serve with you,” and reminding them it was less than three days until Monday, which he regularly told city staff was the best day of the week.

An hour later, in his empty fifth floor office, news reporters rummaged through the few belongings left behind – a box of stamped coins left over from Expo ‘74, a BlackBerry communications device, mayoral stationery, a wedding invitation and a compact disc entitled, “The Voiceless Among Us.”

Fire Chief Bobby Williams stopped by the empty office after a meeting in a nearby conference room. He said he looks back over the last two years with respect for West’s knowledge of politics. “I certainly will miss his experience, leadership, his vision,” Williams said.

Hession is expected to move into the office on Monday after returning from Nebraska, where his son, Patrick, is receiving a master’s degree in clinical anatomy. “I’ll be in touch with City Hall the whole time,” Hession said.

Councilman Joe Shogan now becomes council president pro tem with Hession’s move to the mayor’s office. Hession said he plans to hand the council gavel to Shogan on Monday, and immediately step down from any council deliberations, including a possible vote on his appointment as mayor. Hession will probably not take the oath of office until next month.

Shogan said he felt bad about West’s departure, although he added that any expression of sympathy should not be construed as condoning the behavior that led to West’s recall.

“I don’t think it’s a happy day, but the people of Spokane have expressed their desires that they no longer wanted Jim West to be mayor,” Shogan said. “It’s time to move on to a new era.”

Shannon Sullivan, who wrote the recall charge and shepherded it through several months of court proceedings and signature gathering, said Friday that she felt relieved and vindicated by the election certification and West’s departure.

“I almost can’t believe that after everything, it came down to somebody signing a piece of paper,” she said of Friday morning’s certification. The recall should send a message to elected officials that the public is watching them, Sullivan said.

“Seven months ago, I went into it saying wrong is wrong,” she said, referring to the ballot charge that West used his office for personal benefit. “Sixty-five percent of the people agreed,” she said.

Sullivan said she was also satisfied to know that one person can make a difference by “giving the people a voice,” and that it was a lesson she was proud to teach her son.

Sullivan has since gone to work in the office of Jerry Davis, a Spokane attorney who helped her argue the validity of the recall petition before the state Supreme Court and who has become one of her closest friends.

While West had his share of supporters inside of City Hall, he also had detractors. One employee said his departure lifted a black cloud from City Hall. Another department head said about an hour after West had left, “There is a God.” Both asked not to be identified to avoid potential problems for themselves in City Hall.