The bell may finally be tolling for Jim West, Spokane’s anti-gay and formerly closeted (before being outed) mayor. The city council may seek his resignation.
The City Council will vote on whether to demand the resignation of Mayor James West, who has been accused of offering city jobs to men he met in gay online chat rooms.
City Councilwoman Cherie Rodgers submitted a resolution Wednesday calling for West to resign immediately. She said it is scheduled for a vote May 30.
The seven-member council does not have the power to remove the mayor, and Rodgers may not even have enough votes to pass her resolution. A vote demanding that West take a formal leave of absence deadlocked in the council on Monday. But Rodgers is hoping West will see that the scandal is hurting the city.
I can’t help wishing they had the power to remove him, but it would be great if they voted unanimously that he should go. I don’t, however, hold out much hope that West “will see that the scandal is hurting the city.” He doesn’t seem to have noticed, or cared, how much his political actions have hurt the gay community. My prediction is that this guy will hang on to his position and his power at almost any cost.
