Kress leaving panel in protest

The vice chairman of Spokane’s Human Rights Commission has resigned in protest over the handling of a sexual harassment complaint against Mayor Jim West for appointing a young gay man to the commission and pressuring him for sex.

Last month, the commission ruled West behaved inappropriately and violated community mores in interactions with Ryan Oelrich – but didn’t find that Oelrich was discriminated against and didn’t call for West’s resignation.

That was the final straw for Mike Kress, the last appointee of former Mayor John Powers still on the commission. Kress submitted a letter of resignation Oct. 5, saying the commission should have ruled that West violated city policies against sexual harassment. Kress’ three-year term on the commission founded by former Spokane Mayor Sheri Barnard in 1991 was due to expire in December.

In his resignation letter, Kress said West has “eroded the heart and effectiveness” of the human rights commission, which is “not the proactive, ‘human rights eyes and ears’ of the community it was when I was appointed.”

Kress said he couldn’t attend the July meeting in which Oelrich’s May 2005 complaint was reviewed. He initially signed off on the commission finding sent to Oelrich, which was approved by a quorum of commissioners Aug. 23. But Kress said he remained troubled by the ruling.

“I believe that the SHRC made a mistake by not stating that Jim West sexually harassed Mr. Oelrich. My conscience is bothered by our collective lack of courage in response to his complaint,” Kress said in his letter to Jim Gotzian, commission chairman. Gotzian, a retired South Hill stockbroker and longtime West political supporter, was appointed by West in 2004 to head the commission.

Gotzian said he couldn’t discuss the specifics of the Oelrich decision or any other commission rulings.

“The Human Rights Commission does not discuss individual claims. We hear those claims under confidentiality. Part of our charter is that we report to the City Council,” Gotzian said.

Gotzian disputed Kress’ claim that the commission had lost its effectiveness.

“We’ve never had a more diverse commission. We have a very active and lively debate about issues,” Gotzian said.

Kress also sent a separate letter of apology last week to Oelrich, 24, the director of Quest, a group serving gay and lesbian youth in Spokane.

“Your testimony before the SHRC, the preponderance of available evidence (much of it available via The Spokesman-Review) and my experience and knowledge led me to conclude Mayor James E. West sexually harassed you, and thus discriminated against you. I argued this before the commission,” Kress said.

Kress also sent Oelrich a copy of the finding he would have made – had the decision gone his way. It reiterates testimony Oelrich gave to the commission that West repeatedly sought dates with Oelrich – despite his refusal – from June 2004 to January 2005, when Oelrich resigned.

“It’s also understood that in your personal interview for your Commission appointment the Mayor offered you the position of Commission Chair, which you declined. After you accepted a position on the Commission he offered you trips out of state wherein you’d share a bed and monetary donations to your nonprofit group,” Kress said.

Kress said West violated city policy HR-35 on sexual harassment, defined as “any verbal, non-verbal, or physical behavior of a sexual nature which is unwelcome, uninvited, and offensive to a reasonable person.”

West created a “hostile work environment” for Oelrich on the all-volunteer commission, Kress said.

West didn’t reply to a request for comment on Wednesday. Carl Oreskovich, one of the mayor’s private lawyers, told the newspaper last month that West at the advice of his attorneys didn’t appear before the human rights commission because the group has no authority under the city charter to adjudicate Oelrich’s complaint.

“We saw no legal reason to participate,” Oreskovich said.

A copy of Oelrich’s May complaint – which the commission has maintained is not a public record – was obtained Wednesday for the first time by The Spokesman-Review.

Oelrich listed “City of Spokane – Mayor’s Office” on the complaint form line that asks, “Name of Company which allegedly discriminated against you.” On line 9, “The reason your employer gave (or wouldn’t give) for the unfair action,” Oelrich wrote: “Sexual attraction towards myself.”

Shortly after The Spokesman-Review reported on May 5 that West was seeking out young men on a gay chat line, offering some of them City Hall jobs and appointments in exchange for sex, Oelrich stepped forward.

In an interview published May 9, he said he met West on Gay.com, conversed with him through an instant messaging service and was then appointed in April 2004 to the human rights commission. Oelrich said West continued to pursue him for dates, even offering him $300 to swim naked with the mayor.

Oelrich resigned in January 2005, saying he could no longer in good conscience continue to serve. He and three other young men with similar stories have been interviewed by the FBI as part of its public corruption investigation of West.

Kress is the latest critic to charge West with purging the human rights commission of progressive voices.

Brad Read, a Rogers High School English teacher, said West abruptly removed him as commission chairman in December 2003. “After a five-minute meeting, West said you’re no longer the chairman and in fact you aren’t on the commission,” Read said. Powers appointee Heidi Silver also lost her slot on the commission.

West “made a clear statement that he’d decided to go in a different direction. He didn’t want the commission to be political. We left the meeting believing that the initiatives we were pursuing – domestic partner benefits, the living wage ordinance and a community resolution on the Patriot Act – were being shut down because he didn’t agree with our politics,” Read said.

In May, the members decided that Gotzian would be the only commission member authorized to talk to the press.

“We agreed after the initial flurry of media activity related to Jim West that we’d have Jim Gotzian be the point of contact,” Kress said.

Meanwhile, e-mails from City Hall obtained by the newspaper under an Open Public Records Act request show that West earlier this year was considering eliminating the commission and transferring its functions to the Task Force on Race Relations at Gonzaga University.

The commission’s goal is to “promote and secure mutual understanding and respect” among all people. It serves as an advisory board to the City Council.