Two developments in the Mayor Jim West scandal shouldn’t dissuade those who feel his conduct should be investigated and that he should be the subject of a voter recall.

Last Monday, City Attorney Mike Connelly announced he was resigning to take a similar job with the city of Spokane Valley. It was Connelly who ordered the seizure of the mayor’s computer and the formation of an investigatory panel when news broke of the mayor’s escapades. Though well-meaning, Connelly’s ill-conceived probe came under immediate fire because the city attorney works for the mayor. Former Councilman Steve Eugster filed a lawsuit questioning the legality of the panel. All but one of the five panelists have resigned.

The good news is that the City Council appears poised to take over the investigation into whether the mayor violated the city’s ethics policies, misused his office and engaged in sexual harassment. Ryan Oelrich, whom the mayor nominated for the city’s Human Rights Commission, resigned after the sex scandal broke, saying he was pestered by the mayor for dates and was offered money to swim naked with him.

Additionally, a young man who chooses to remain anonymous says the mayor offered him City Hall jobs during online chats, and the mayor discussed an internship with a person he thought was a high school senior during online chats that included masturbation and conversations about sex. The impostor was hired by The Spokesman-Review to confirm the mayor’s identity.

The other development came from Spokane County Auditor Vicky Dalton, who said it would be virtually impossible for the recall question to be put on the Nov. 8 ballot. She said the time needed to verify signatures on a recall petition and the various notification requirements in recall statutes would mean that her office would need the petitions by Aug. 19. The mayor has challenged the recall, which has delayed the gathering of signatures. Oral arguments begin on Aug. 24.

If Dalton is correct, then it would appear that a recall election would have to be held later in the year or early next year. The additional cost of a special election is estimated to be $140,000 to $160,000.

So be it. The matter of the mayor’s official conduct is worth resolving and it shouldn’t be scuttled by procedural bumps in the road. Shannon Sullivan, who is spearheading the recall, has precisely the right attitude about the delay: “I have no problem if it hits the November ballot or not. It matters to me that the people get a voice, whatever that day is.”

It would be better, of course, if this matter could be resolved sooner. But the investigation stumbled out of the gate, the council was slow to take charge and the mayor has chosen to raise legal barriers. Nonetheless, the right course of action is to press forward.