In light of admitted behavior by Jim West and its impact on our community, the Spokane Regional Chamber of Commerce and Spokane Regional Convention and Visitors Bureau made the following joint statement:

Spokane is a vibrant, quality community that needs to continue to move forward. Therefore we believe that it is in the best interest of our community that Jim West resign as mayor.

We acknowledge that Jim West has contributed much to the city. We are confident that the city leaders and city council can keep Spokane on a positive course until a new mayor can be elected.

Spokane has received national recognition for being an All America City and for having the largest hotzone in the nation. Our region’s hospitals have received recognition for their technology infrastructure and electronic medical records system; and our public and private educational institutions consistently receive national recognition. Most recently, Spokane was named as the 35th Best Place to Do Business by INC Magazine. We are committed to maintaining this momentum and building on these successes.

The Chamber’s job is to advocate for the Spokane region at the state and federal levels in order to secure funding for important community projects and to create a good business climate. The current situation has diluted our message and taken the focus away from our primary mission.

The CVB’s job is to sell the Spokane region as a preferred convention and visitor destination. This situation is making it difficult to do so. Instead of selling Spokane, we are defending it. We’ve worked hard to elevate Spokane as a premier destination and we need to get back to promoting our great community.

Finally, there are over 50 CEOs on the Chamber and CVB’s boards and they have told us that they would not have their jobs today if they had done what Jim West has already admitted to doing. We believe that the community needs a new CEO.