Spokane kids’ safety definitely worth $18
Monte McConnell gave Mayor Jim West the pickle, and got the shaft in return.
When McConnell came to City Hall on April 7, he brought a jar of pickles purchased during a two-for-one sale at a supermarket near his Hillyard home. He’d heard West had adopted a city customer-service program with a pickle theme and thought the jar would make a nice ice-breaking gift.
McConnell knew the mayor once led a Boy Scout troop with a sheriff’s deputy who likely molested local children.
So the Spokane man suspected he might have a hard time selling West on his idea to require stringent criminal background checks for anyone who regularly works with kids. The pickles didn’t help his cause.
“It was like walking into a deep freeze,” McConnell recalls. “The guy would not make eye contact with me.”
McConnell’s family “has been visited by” child sexual abuse, as he puts it. I won’t go into the horrific details, but they drove the man to press forward with his reasonable proposal.
He wants Washington to require anyone now working with children, or applying for a job caring for kids, to submit their fingerprints for a federal criminal background check covering all 50 states. Such checks cost $18, and results come back in two or three business days. Cash-strapped employers could even ask candidates to pay the modest fee.
Currently, workers at most youth organizations in the state undergo much less stringent online background checks. The patchwork system can enable convicted sex criminals from outside Washington to prey on children here from positions of authority.
Sitting with West in the chairs set out for visitors in front of the mayor’s desk, McConnell asked for help setting up a meeting with state legislators. Failing that, he hoped to get a letter of support from West on official city letterhead.
As the brief presentation continued, West “got up and walked around,” McConnell says. “I thought, ‘This guy seems awfully nervous.’ ” In the end, the mayor turned him down flat, calling the current system of voluntary checks good enough.
“I had to choose between cold-cocking that SOB and walking out,” McConnell recounts. Although he’s 56 and has a medical disability, the man’s temper could still get him into trouble. Two decades ago, he was convicted of bank robbery. He also has faced a misdemeanor assault charge. This time, McConnell kept his cool and left in disgust.
The former truck driver and private investigator clearly is not the most effective spokesman for the cause. But how could anyone be against forcing people who work with kids to undergo stringent nationwide criminal background checks?
Less than a month after the meeting, West faced allegations of child molestation and offering city internships to young men with whom he wanted to have sex.
The mayor denies the sex-abuse accusations. But if they’re true, it’s easier to understand why McConnell’s pitch made him uncomfortable. Ironically, though, West wouldn’t have been affected by a background check requirement. He’s never faced criminal molestation charges.
Yet this still seems a perfect moment for state and local leaders to show their support for children by turning McConnell’s proposal into law. He says he’s e-mailed city council members three times and hasn’t heard back. State legislators have given him the brush-off as well.
When he met with West, McConnell quoted the mayor’s campaign promise to “look out for the interests of those most vulnerable.”
We now know West isn’t up to that task. But what’s everyone else’s excuse?