Post-vote scenarios for council

Ballots in the all-mail recall election must be postmarked by Dec. 6 or turned in to one of three voting stations that day.

If a majority of voters mark their ballots “Recall No,” Jim West remains mayor with no changes to his status or his powers as mayor. Any investigations still under way would continue.

If a majority of voters mark their ballots “Recall Yes,” West would be removed from office on the day the election is certified, which is scheduled for Dec. 16.

At that point, according to a Nov. 7 memo from Assistant City Attorney Mike Piccolo, Council President Dennis Hession would become mayor pro tem, a position he would hold until the Spokane City Council appoints, through a majority vote, a replacement to serve the remainder of West’s term, which is up for election in November 2007.

While he is mayor pro tem, Hession would not serve on the council and Councilman Joe Shogan, who is president pro tem, would serve as the head of the six-member council. The council would not select a temporary replacement to fill Hession’s spot in the interim.

Neither the council nor the city charter has a specific process set aside for appointing someone to replace a mayor who has resigned, died in office or been recalled – the three ways a mayor can be removed under the charter. But it does have rules for selecting a citizen to fill a vacancy on the council, which include accepting applications, interviewing candidates and voting for an appointee.

Those same procedures could be followed for appointing a replacement for West, Piccolo said. The council should “at a minimum” take its formal action in an open public meeting, he said.

The council could appoint Hession, another member of the council or another Spokane resident as West’s permanent replacement. Whoever is appointed to the position must resign from any private job he or she holds. Hession would not have to resign from his law practice while he’s mayor pro tem, but would if he is appointed to the spot for the rest of the term.

Appointing Hession to the spot could set off a chain reaction on the council that leads to two more appointments. The council would then pick a replacement for Hession to serve out the remainder of his term as council president, which is also up for election in November 2007.

If they select one of their own members – a clear possibility because familiarity with council procedures is an advantage for a council president – they would then select a replacement for the vacancy on the council. Because council members are elected by district, that replacement would have to come from the district formerly represented by the new council president.

Because of the city charter’s term-limit restrictions, no one can serve more than a total of two terms on the council, whether as a district council member or council president. Because of that, Councilwoman Cherie Rodgers, the council’s most senior member who is just finishing up her second term, could not be appointed council president. Rodgers’ term ends at the end of December, and she’ll be replaced by Nancy McLaughlin in January.

Al French, the next most senior member on the council, who was elected last week to his second term, would not be barred from being appointed council president. But he could not run for election to a full term as council president in 2007.

No other council member has served a full term, so any of the other council members appointed as council president could run for re-election to that spot in 2007.

Anyone appointed to any of the various vacancies would serve through 2007, when the next municipal election is scheduled.

Anyone appointed to the mayor’s position could run for the seat in 2007 but could not run for re-election in 2011 if he or she is appointed before January 1. That’s because the mayor also has a two-term limit under the city charter, and more than two years, or half a term, counts as a whole term, Piccolo said.