Hawkins skeptical of ethics proposal

Spokane City Council candidate Dallas Hawkins on Tuesday said an ethics proposal being advanced by his opponent is too vague and could be a publicity ploy as much as a substantive solution.

Hawkins wants any new ethics commission to have authority to bring sanctions against violators, not just a knee-jerk response to sexual impropriety allegations surrounding Mayor Jim West.

“I’m a little bit concerned such a commission might not have any teeth in it,” Hawkins said.

Councilwoman Mary Verner has joined two citizen groups and other City Council members in sponsoring an ethics forum that could lead to creation of a city-county ethics commission. The public forum is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday in Council Chambers at City Hall.

“I think she believes it resonates with the voters well, and it makes it look like she’s achieving something,” said Hawkins, an independent insurance agent who advanced to the general election in last month’s primary.

“I don’t want it to be an ethics commission that deals with just Mayor West. It needs to be more global than that,” Hawkins said.

Verner said she has not endorsed creating an ethics commission but wants to hear from experts and members on the public on whether one is needed in Spokane. “I am going to wait and keep an open mind,” she said.

The proposal has no connection to her campaign, Verner said, adding, “I’m going on doing my business as a councilperson every day.”

Verner was appointed in 2004 to a council seat vacated when Dennis Hession moved up to the job of council president earlier last year. She is seeking her first election to the South Side’s District 2 seat and won a majority of votes against Hawkins and one other primary election opponent last month.

Verner said discussion of ethics predates a series of stories in The Spokesman-Review last spring that detailed the mayor’s personal activities and his use of a city computer to offer an internship to a prospective acquaintance.

The online acquaintance was actually a computer expert hired by the newspaper to determine whether the mayor was using computers to seek dates with young men, including one who reported having an intimate encounter with the mayor.

The controversy has triggered a recall petition, expected to go to voters in a mail-in election ending Dec. 6. It has heightened interest in establishing ethical standards for elected officials and public employees in addition to establishing an ethics commission.

Candidates running this fall for two other council district seats in northeast and northwest Spokane said they support creation of an ethics commission.

Nancy McLaughlin, one of two candidates vying to replace outgoing Councilwoman Cherie Rodgers in northwest Spokane District 3, said an ethics commission must have the authority to bring sanctions. “It’s kind of sad to think public trust has eroded due to the lack of personal integrity, that it would become important to form some kind of ethics commission,” she said.

Her opponent, former Councilman Steve Corker, said the crisis involving the mayor has made creation of an ethics commission “more important than ever.” “I don’t think you can devote enough attention to that issue,” he said.

In District 1 in northeast Spokane, challenger Valentina Howard said it is a “good idea” to hold public officials accountable. She is running against incumbent Councilman Al French.

“Right now there is no accountability other than recall,” said French, who is also calling for an ethics policy. He said an ethics commission could be patterned after a state ethics commission.

Thursday evening’s public forum will include an appearance by Wayne Barnett, executive director of the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission.