(Spokane, Washington) Spokane Mayor Jim West's city-owned computer contains 1,800 files, at least half of them photos, that he doesn't want the public to see, according to new court filings.
"From what I've been told by a city attorney, the mayor's computer contains pornographic pictures and probably very sexually descriptive correspondence with people he met on chat lines with his City Hall computer," City Councilwoman Cherie Rodgers told The Spokesman-Review for a Saturday report.
West declined to comment on his decision to challenge release of the files.
The files apparently include photos of young men the mayor met on gay Web sites using his city-owned computer, according to documents produced by City Hall. His files of "personal social contacts" also apparently include message exchanges with young men.
In September, Assistant City Attorney Milt Rowland said the city would release three CDs containing files copied from West's computer disc in response to a May public-records request from The Spokesman-Review.
West's attorneys went to court to prevent the city from releasing the CD files or a copy of his City Hall computer hard drive. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for Wednesday before a visiting Adams County judge.
According to the city's written policies, data on city-owned computers "should be considered information available to the public." In many cases, improper use of government or business computers can lead to termination, the policies say.
West, who faces a recall election Dec. 6, has said he didn't use his City Hall computer to visit gay Web sites. That contention appears to be contradicted by an index of his computer files supplied by the city attorney's office.
The index "demonstrates that the Web site connections initiated from (West's) city computer include pictures and-or images," according to a legal brief by newspaper attorneys Duane Swinton and Tracy LeRoy. "Based on discussions before the court on Tuesday, the content of the records at issue involves images and-or pictures of young men from Internet sites such as Gay.com."
The legal test for releasing such material is whether it would "result in irreparable injury" or not be in the public interest.
"Mayor West has failed to show that disclosure (of the contents of his city computer) would be highly offensive and is of no legitimate public interest," according to the brief.
West has acknowledged meeting young men at online chat rooms, so privacy issues there no longer exist — especially if he was using his city-owned computer, the newspaper brief says.
The mayor's attorneys argued that material on his government-owned computer was "personal social contact" information that would be "highly offensive to a reasonable person."
A half-dozen young gay men were offered perks, trips or City Hall jobs and appointments by West, who has said he did nothing illegal. The FBI is investigating whether those offers and appointments constituted an abuse of public office.
Meanwhile, West is telling longtime supporters he needs $150,000 for his fight to remain in office. Through a committee set up to fight the recall, West sent out a four-page fund-raising letter late last month asking for donations to support the campaign.
"I must raise $150,000 in a very short period of time for mailings and TV ads," he said.
West has said his campaign would be based on what he's done for the city since taking office in 2004 and what he plans to do with the rest of his four-year term — plus the contention that "everybody's entitled to privacy."
His letter also challenges The Spokesman-Review, which first reported allegations of West's sexual misconduct and misuse of office in May, and its editor, Steven A. Smith.
"Are Steven Smith and the Spokesman-Review the ultimate authority in Spokane or is it the people? The choice is ours," West writes.
Smith said West was trying to shift responsibility for problems of his own making, and defended the newspaper's coverage.
"Politicians in trouble will always blame the press, that's Politics 101 and we understand that," Smith said.
Source: http://www.365gay.com/newscon05/10/100905spokane.htm
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