West brings new tone, new success to City Hall

In his 16 months in office at City Hall, Spokane Mayor Jim West has pulled off a series of significant accomplishments while enjoying broad political support both inside and outside the city.

Possibly his biggest accomplishment was winning voter approval last fall of a $117 million bond issue to fix aging city streets. The victory was a remarkable turnaround from the resounding defeat by voters just two years earlier of a smaller street bond, under the previous mayor.

Bringing with him years of skill developed as a state legislator, West quickly built credibility among voters. Then, through a series of town hall gatherings, he assured them their money would be spent well, in part because he would create a citizens’ street advisory commission.

But his first year in office was plagued by budget cuts. The city trimmed 154 positions from non-utility services, including 72 police and fire officer jobs. West employed a “priorities of government” analysis in making the cuts.

At the same time, he oversaw legal settlement of the city’s ill-fated parking garage venture with the owners of River Park Square. The city extracted itself from the public-private endeavor at a cost of about $21 million in borrowed cash, plus millions more in operating losses, legal fees and back taxes. But the settlement saved the city from the prospect of additional losses.

Owners of River Park Square took back possession of the garage in exchange for guaranteeing payments on a separate federal community development construction loan. The city had been at risk for those payments if RPS failed. River Park Square is owned by real estate affiliates of Cowles Publishing Co., which also owns The Spokesman-Review.

Almost from his first day in office, the mayor has sought to bring a new tone to city affairs. He established an “employee of the month” recognition program to regularly highlight the skills and dedication of the city’s 1,900 workers. At the same time, he told them to treat citizens like “customers,” and to seek ways to satisfy their legitimate requests for services. He settled stalled labor talks with city unions.

His early months were also marked by brief absences for surgical treatment of advanced colon cancer.

Possibly because of his potentially fatal illness, the mayor has been bold and at times impatient. He chides top staff to hurry up their work. He championed the city’s purchase of the old Playfair horse racing grounds for utility and possible recreation uses. He’s talked about selling the aging Albi Stadium, and even City Hall for downtown condos.

West has promoted a downtown wireless Web network, an effort that garnered him an invitation to appear at a national conference on wireless Internet technology Monday and Tuesday of this week.

He wants to replace downtown parking meters with ticket-spitting pay stations.

He spent much of last week in Washington, D.C., with members of the Spokane Regional Chamber of Commerce supporting efforts to keep Fairchild Air Force Base open and building networks within the federal government.

He was recently appointed by the Bush administration to a commission looking at streamlining federal grant programs to local governments. The proposal would target community development funds to economic development in depressed areas.

The appointment underlines West’s focus on economic development. He views it as the best answer to getting the city out of its multiyear saga of job cuts caused by weak tax growth.