New Spokane Mayor Follows Jim West Scandal

AP Online
01-04-2006
Dateline: SPOKANE, Wash.
The City Council president was sworn in as mayor Tuesday to replace Jim West, who was recalled last month over allegations that he offered jobs and perks to young men he met online.

Dennis Hession pledged "to be bold and creative" in moving beyond the extraordinary circumstances of the past seven months.

"It's not the situation that defines us ... but how we respond to it," Hession during a 10-minute ceremony.

Hession, 55, has been acting mayor since West was voted out of office by 65 percent of the vote in a special election Dec. 6.

West, a longtime Republican lawmaker and Boy Scout executive, has acknowledged having relationships with men but denies doing anything illegal. No charges have been filed but the FBI is investigating.

The scandal followed a series of articles in The Spokesman-Review alleging that West, 54, had used his office for personal benefit by soliciting dates from young men on gay Internet chat rooms.

West published an open letter to residents shortly before the election saying: "I have made personal mistakes, and ask forgiveness for those, but I have never done anything to harm our city."

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