Homophobic Spokane Wa Mayor Outed by Investigative Journalism

[paineinthearse]

This story was featured on Daily Show. Credit "burythehatchet" with recording JS' words: "I paraphrase: "how many gay trysts do these anti gay guys have to get caught in before everyone realizes THEY'RE ALL GAY". You a gay dude lookin to hook up? cruise the anti-gay buffet, there's plenty of action there""

...so I googled the mayor's name and Spokane and found...

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/jimwest/

West tied to sex abuse in '70s,
using office to lure young men

About these stories
A note to readers from Editor Steven A. Smith.
Read more »

Also see this timeline of the newspaper's investigation of the story.

Reader responses
Talk about this story in our forum.
428 comments »

Multimedia
Audio and video files posted as part of this investigation.
Find more »

Email transcript
Read emails exchanged between Jim West and "Brock," a forensic computer consultant posing as a teenager online.
Read more »

Chat transcripts
Read online chats between Jim West and two other participants, "Dannyboy" and "Moto-Brock." Warning: This material contains explicit sexual references that may be offensive and inappropriate for young readers.

Career timeline
Jim West's personal and political history.
Read more »

2003 stories
The Spokesman-Review's investigation began in the wake of three stories published in 2003.

6/8/03: Men say they suffered sex abuse by deputy
6/8/03: Alleged child molester 'very sweet brother'
11/04/03: Four men file claims of abuse by deputy

Allegations shadow politician throughout his career

By Bill Morlin / Staff writer

For a quarter century, the man who is now Spokane's mayor has used positions of public trust – as a sheriff's deputy, Boy Scout leader and powerful politician – to develop sexual relationships with boys and young men.

One man claims in a court deposition that Jim West molested him in the mid-1970s when he was a boy and West was a Spokane County sheriff's deputy and Boy Scout leader. A second man also accuses West of sexual abuse during the same era, including an incident at Camp Cowles, a Boy Scout camp on Diamond Lake.

In addition, an investigation by The Spokesman-Review has revealed that 17 months after leaving the state Legislature, West has used the trappings of the mayor's office to entice and influence young men he met on a gay Web site. ( Full story » )

West's public policy conflicts with private life
Karen Dorn Steele / Staff writer

In an Internet chat room last New Year’s Eve where he discussed his recent date with an 18-year-old man, Spokane Mayor Jim West criticized the “sex Nazis” who try to regulate private sexual behavior. For years, that’s exactly what West tried to do in Olympia. ( Full story » )

West offered perks, internship to expert posing as 18-year-old during Web chats
Bill Morlin / Staff writer

An 18-year-old Spokane high school senior meets someone who says he’s 53 in a gay chat room online. After talking for several weeks using the online alias “Cobra82nd,” the older man suggests the two meet for a dinner date, and the teenager accepts. The older man arrives in his late-model blue Lexus convertible on a warm June evening, and the two talk face to face for the first time over dinner at a trendy restaurant in north Spokane. Afterward, the young man picks up the tab. He smiles as he’s given the keys to the convertible in the restaurant parking lot. ( Full story » )

Interview with Rob Galliher
Excerpts from an interview between Spokesman-Review reporter Bill Morlin and Robert J. Galliher, conducted April 20, 2005, in the Seattle area. Galliher remembers being visited late at night in 2003 by Jim West at Geiger Corrections Center, and the last day in 1981 he saw Spokane County sheriff’s Deputy David Hahn. ( Full text » )

Interview with Michael Grant
Excerpts from an interview between Spokesman-Review reporter Bill Morlin and Michael George Grant Jr., conducted April 26, 2005, in a central Washington jail. Grant describes being molested by Spokane County sheriff's Deputy David Hahn, and talks about where he was when West was elected mayor. ( Full text » )

West has brought new tone, new success to City Hall
Mike Prager / Staff writer

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. ( Full story » )

May 5, 2005
Audio: City officials
Listen to reactions from city officials. ( Multimedia » )

Interview with Jim West
Transcript of an interview between Mayor Jim West and Spokesman-Review reporters Bill Morlin and Karen Dorn Steele, which took place at The Spokesman-Review building the evening of May 4, 2005, before any stories on this investigation were published. Enhanced with audio clips. ( Full text » )

Document: Email from Jim West to city employees
Text of an email sent by Mayor Jim West to city employees the morning of May 5, 2005. ( Full text » )

Document: Public statement from Jim West
Transcription of a public statement from Mayor Jim West. ( Full text » )

West pledges to continue serving city
Mike Prager / Staff writer

Spokane Mayor Jim West Thursday gave every indication he intends to continue serving even as allegations of his sexual misconduct descended on City Hall. “I have 1,150 days left in my term of office and each and every one of those days will be dedicated to serving the city and making sure we prosper …” the mayor said. ( Full story » )

Document: Letter from Robert Galliher
Text of a letter Rob Galliher wrote in January 2004 and sent to Mic Hunter, a St. Paul, Minn., psychologist and author of "Abused Boys," a book on sex abuse. Galliher said he was looking for help from Hunter when he wrote the letter, which accuses Jim West of sexual abuse. ( Full text » )

May 6, 2005
City to investigate West's computer use
Mike Prager / Staff writer

Mayor Jim West's admission to cruising a gay chat site has prompted an inquiry from the City of Spokane. ( Full story » )

Audio: City officials
Listen to an interview with Councilwoman Cherie Rodgers. Hear Jim West's speech at a sign unveiling. ( Multimedia » )

West sorry but staying
Mike Prager / Staff writer

Spokane Mayor Jim West gave no indication Thursday he is ready to relinquish the power of his office even as allegations of his sexual misconduct gripped City Hall. The mayor denied allegations by two men who claim that West molested them when they were boys while he was a Boy Scout leader and a Spokane County deputy sheriff in the 1970s. West said he did not deny additional reports in the newspaper "that I have visited a gay chat line on the Internet and had relationships with adult men." ( Full story » )

West resigns from Scout post, boy’s ranch board
By Bill Morlin and Karen Dorn Steele / Staff writer

Spokane Mayor Jim West, facing accusations of using positions of public trust to develop sexual relations with young men, resigned Thursday from the executive board of the Inland Northwest Council of the Boy Scouts. ( Full story » )

Galliher: I was beaten by guards
Bill Morlin / Staff writer

The last time Robert Galliher talked publicly about being abused as a boy by a sheriff’s deputy he says he ended up with a black eye, bruised ribs and blood in his urine. Galliher claims he was beaten by correctional officers in the Spokane County Jail in 2003, about three months after he was quoted in The Spokesman-Review. In that newspaper story, Galliher said he and his older brother Brett were sexually abused in the late 1970s by Spokane County Sheriff’s Deputy David Hahn. ( Full story » )

Business leaders say shock will wear off
Alison Boggs / Staff writer

Many Spokane business leaders expressed support Thursday for Mayor Jim West and said they hope the allegations leveled against him will not derail the city's momentum. ( Full story » )

West's behavior raises ethical problem
Shawn Vestal / Staff writer

Mayor Jim West has insisted that his offers of an internship to someone he met in an Internet chat room did not amount to an abuse of office. But several political scientists said Thursday that such uses of an elected office and public resources represent an ethical transgression, if not a legal one. ( Full story » )

May 7, 2005
West faces new allegations
Bill Morlin and Karen Dorn Steele / Staff writer

The controversy swirling around Spokane Mayor Jim West grew substantially Friday when two men, now living in Seattle, came forward with new allegations about his conduct in 1980 and as recently as 2001. West faces allegations of sexual abuse of children dating to the 1970s and more recent allegations of abuse of public power. ( Full story » )

City to examine internships, computer use
Mike Prager / Staff writer

Spokane city officials Friday announced an independent investigation into Mayor Jim West’s internship program and his use of city e-mail and the Internet. ( Full story » )

Editorial: Businessman appreciates impact West had on him as young man
Jeff Schrock / Special to The Spokesman-Review

I met Jim West in the early 1980s when I was attending Lewis and Clark High School (Class of '86). I'm not sure of the exact timing of our acquaintance but over the course of three to four years, I got to know Jim fairly well. ( Full story » )

Letters to the editor
Saturday's letters to the editor from The Spokesman-Review. ( Read more » )

May 8, 2005
Rodgers: West used city office
Bill Morlin and Karen Dorn Steele / Staff writers

Spokane Mayor Jim West confided to a city councilwoman Thursday that he masturbated in his City Hall office during an online chat on a gay Web site. ( Full story » )

West disputes councilwoman's account
Mike Prager / Staff writer

Spokane Mayor Jim West on Sunday denied that he told City Councilwoman Cherie Rodgers that he had online sex in his City Hall office. ( Full story » )

Audio: Cherie Rodgers
Councilwoman Cherie Rodgers stands by her account. ( Multimedia » )

Sex abusers often target most vulnerable, experts say
Virginia de Leon / Staff writer

Vulnerable kids, like Michael Grant and Robert Galliher assert they were, are often the ones targeted by pedophiles and child molesters, experts say. And once they become victims of abuse, many of these children grow up to become troubled adults and struggle all their lives to recover. ( Full story » )

West's mayoral rival considered story
Karen Dorn Steele / Staff writer

The Local Planet, an alternative newspaper that ceased publication last year, considered pursuing a story about Jim West's personal life in 2003. ( Full story » )

Council members react to allegations
Mike Prager / Staff writer

Spokane City Council members Saturday said Mayor Jim West's future should be left for him to decide. ( Full story » )

Editorial: Timing of West story had to wait on facts
Steven A. Smith / Editor

This week's stories on Mayor Jim West's recent sexual misconduct and allegations of past sexual abuse have raised the credibility issue again. ( Full story » )

Editorial: West should resign as mayor
Spokane Mayor Jim West says he has a right to keep his private and public lives separate. He should have lived by that rule.( Full story » )

Column: Spokane looks like loser after allegations
Doug Clark / Columnist

Poor Spokane. Here we finally elect a mayor who starts getting the streets fixed and will be seen eating lunch with me. Then – wham! – we catch him wooing a high school teenager on a gay Internet Web site by offering a City Hall internship. ( Full story » )

News from elsewhere
What other media outlets, from Seattle to New York, are saying about the Jim West case. ( Links » )

Letters to the editor
Sunday's letters to the editor from The Spokesman-Review. ( Read more » )

May 9, 2005
Mayor denies sex act in City Hall
Mike Prager / Staff writer

Spokane Mayor Jim West on Sunday denied telling City Councilwoman Cherie Rodgers that he was in his City Hall office when he masturbated while visiting a gay online chat room, looking for young men, but Rodgers stood steadfastly by her account of their conversation. ( Full story » )

West: Living double life 'has been hell'
Bill Morlin / Staff writer

Mayor Jim West ended two days of public silence on Sunday in a rambling, sometimes emotional 30-minute conversation over an expanding controversy linking his sexual activities and the trappings of his public office. ( Full story » )

Document: Interview notes
Notes taken by Spokesman-Review Editor Steve Smith during a Sunday morning phone conversation with Mayor Jim West. ( Full text » )

Video: KHQ interviews
Interviews with Matt Spaur of The Local Planet and P.J. Watters of the Morning Star Boy’s Ranch. ( Multimedia » )

Online chat with Steve Smith
Spokesman-Review Editor Steven A. Smith answered readers' questions Monday afternoon about the newspaper's investigation and reporting. ( Transcript » )

Two accuse West of offering jobs
High-salaried City Hall jobs and a position on a city policy-making board were offered to two young men after they met Mayor Jim West in an Internet chat room, both men told The Spokesman-Review on Monday. ( Full story » )

Video: SR.com report
Video report on Shannon Sullivan, who filed a challenge for recall against Jim West on Monday. ( Multimedia » )

May 10, 2005
FBI to look into allegations
Bill Morlin / Staff writer

The FBI is in the initial phases of a possible "public corruption" case involving allegations that Spokane Mayor Jim West abused his office by extending jobs to gay young man he hoped to entice into sexual relationships. ( Full story » )

Mayor to take leave
Spokane Mayor Jim West told City Council members Monday that he would take a leave of absence amid controversy over his sexual behavior and use of the mayor's office. ( Statement; Full story » )

Openness often struggle for gay politicians
Shawn Vestal / Staff writer

The intersection of politics, religion and sexuality exploded in the gay community last week, when allegations surfaced that Mayor Jim West - a longtime conservative opponent of gay rights - had sexually abused boys and had relationships with young men. ( Full story » )

At a glance
Spokane Mayor Jim West's votes on gay-rights and human-rights issues. ( Read more » )

Document: Interview with Ryan Oelrich
Transcript of an interview Spokesman-Review reporter Bill Morlin conducted with Ryan Oelrich on May 9 in Spokane. Oelrich is talking about his appointment to the Human Rights Commission by Spokane Mayor Jim West. ( Full text » )

Audio: Jack Lynch
Deputy Mayor Jack Lynch talks about leading the city. ( Multimedia » )

May 11, 2005
Former mayors urge West to resign
Two former Spokane mayors - John Talbott and Sheri Barnard - called Tuesday for Mayor Jim West to resign. At City Hall, officials sought to turn their attention back to the business of local government. ( Full story » )

Lynch faces new challenge
A year ago, Spokane Deputy Mayor Jack Lynch was embarking on what he would come to view as one of the biggest challenges of his career: investigating the death of a sewage treatment plant worker and helping city employees cope with the tragedy. Now, Lynch faces what could be an equal, if not greater, test of his leadership skills. ( Full story » )

At a glance
Key officials in an interim administration. ( Read more » )

May 12, 2005
State may investigate West
Whether state authorities open an investigation into misconduct allegations against Mayor Jim West will depend on the outcome of a similar FBI probe already under way, Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna announced today. ( Full story » )

City attorney asks for investigations
Spokane City Attorney Mike Connelly is asking for state and federal help with allegations of misconduct being lodged against Mayor Jim West. Connelly wants the FBI and the Washington State Attorney General's Office to open official investigations. ( Full story » )

Boys ranch director denies report
The longtime director of Morning Star Boys Ranch on Wednesday denied a report that Mayor Jim West and a former sheriff's deputy "checked out" boys for day outings and camping trips in the late 1970s and early 1980s. ( Full story » )

Talk about where investigative journalism has gone!

[Bok_Tukalo]

1. That was good satire

Very funny.

[paineinthearse]

3. The thing about the Daily Show's "fake news"

95% of it is not fake.

[Bok_Tukalo]

4. The shot about cruising anti-gay buffets is satire

<ope>

[paineinthearse]

5. Yes, that part was

Thought you meant the entire story was.

[Bok_Tukalo]

6. I also liked the brutal outing vs incredible irony

Good piece, that one.

[paineinthearse]

2. E&P: is undercover IJ ethical?

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/columns/pressingissues_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000919795

Spokane Undercover

In its investigation of sexual misconduct by Mayor Jim West, The Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Wash., hired a computer expert to pose as a 17-year-old boy in a gay chat room. An E&P story reported that many other editors say they wouldn't have approved that operation, but Spokane editor Steve Smith, in an online chat, stands by his call. What do YOU think?

By Greg Mitchell

NEW YORK (May 12, 2005) -- If you've been visiting our site the past few days, you probably noticed that we've covered, from the start, the sensational probe by The Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Wash., that caused the city's mayor, Jim West, to take a leave of absence this week. After months of research, the newspaper published allegations that the mayor had sexually abused minors in the past, had more recently misused his official position in sex-related activities, and other charges. Earlier this week, E&P's Joe Strupp talked to about ten top editors at major newspapers around the country. To his surprise, he found that each one expressed serious questions about the Spokane paper's use of an outside computer expert, who adopted a fictional name and posed as a 17-year-old, to converse with West in a gay chat room. Most said they would rule out such a tactic at their papers.

Some journalism ethicists support the paper, however, and this week, in an online chat with readers of the Spokesman-Review, its editor, Steve Smith, strongly defended his controversial decision. "I am fully at peace with the work we've done," Smith said. "We're doing our job." What follows are some excerpts from the transcript of that chat. If you would like to join in the discussion -- via E&P -- send me your comments, at [e-mail] Asked if, journalistically, the end justified the means in this case, Smith replied: "I choose to frame it somewhat differently. The only ethical issue raised about our series -- at least in the newspaper industry -- is our decision to hire an outside expert to chat with the mayor in an effort to confirm his identity.

"That move, while controversial, is not outside the ethical boundaries of our profession. All of the major ethics codes allow for deceptive reporting techniques under certain circumstances. There are guides to decisionmaking and checklists to be followed. We followed those. "Fundamentally, it is a course you can adopt if there is no other way to confirm the information being sought and if the stakes are high enough. In this case, I am absolutely comfortable that our methodology was appropriate and that it was ethical. In that sense, our approach has been justified by the outcome."

Asked about comments that the paper had undercut its credibility by lying to get to the truth, Smith said: "Well, I disagree. Here was our problem. We had one (later two) young men saying they had chatted with a person while on Gay.com, that the person turned out to be Mayor West and that, in one case, the conversations produced a 'date' and a sexual encounter in the mayor's car late one night. "The problem in the cyber world is that there was no backup evidence. We simply had the account of this one individual (later the second but with less specificity and no encounter). "If we had published that allegation, it would have elicited an immediate denial from the mayor and that would have been that. The screen names would have disappeared, the mayor would have dropped out of the chat rooms and we'd be guilty of either improperly sullying his reputation or guilty of letting him off the hook. In the end, the only way to confirm beyond a shadow of a doubt that we were dealing with the mayor was to go online as we did.

more....
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Greg Mitchell ([e-mail]) is the editor of E&P.

Find this article at:
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/columns/pressingissues_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000919795

[siliconefreak]

7. it's tough...

...but West deserves everything he's getting.

[paineinthearse]

8. City attorney asks for investigations

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/jimwest/story.asp?ID=051105_investigate

City attorney asks for investigations

Mike Prager / Staff writer

May 11, 2005

© The Spokesman-Review 2005

Spokane City Attorney Mike Connelly on Wednesday asked state and federal authorities to conduct their own investigations into the sex abuse controversy involving Mayor Jim West. The move comes one day after the U.S. Justice Department in Spokane confirmed that the FBI has already started its own investigation into the potential for public corruption stemming from West's use of his office to entice young men into sexual relationships. Connelly also asked state Attorney General Rob McKenna to investigate.

"In light of the allegations made in the last two days, and the FBI inquiry, as well as the possible conflict of interest with both city and county law enforcement, we believe it is in the best interest of the citizens and the city of Spokane to request these investigations by independent agencies," Connelly said in a prepared statement.

A spokeswoman for the attorney general confirmed late Wednesday that McKenna had received the request, but there was no immediate response to it. McKenna was scheduled to make an appearance in Spokane today on efforts to fight methamphetamine abuse. West on Monday announced he was taking a leave from office for a few weeks to respond to what he called "false accusations," including statements by two men that West molested them when they were boys in the 1970s and West was a Spokane County deputy sheriff and Boy Scout leader. Also on Wednesday, Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire said the controversy surrounding West should not stop Spokane from continuing its progress as a city.

<snip>

Also on Wednesday, a man and two women protested outside The Spokesman-Review with cardboard signs painted with blue letters, one of which read: "We Support Jim West 100%." They then headed to City Hall for a brief protest there.