Monday, May 09, 2005
More on the Wild West
What makes this especially frustrating is that Spokane was finally beginning to dig itself out of the Cowles pit. When I moved here in '90, the first thing I noticed was the sheer incompetence of city govt. I had lived in big and small cities, rich and poor, and all of them did a better job on the basic stuff (streets, trash, crime) than Spokane. Here, the city poured millions into planning huge projects that went nowhere, while letting essential services deteriorate.
Sidenote: this casts doubt on the oft-stated notion that corrupt city regimes keep the trains running on time. That may have been true of Daley's Chicago, but it's not true of any modern city machine I can think of.
Starting around '97, local radio hosts (including the redoubtable Detective Fuhrman) focused attention on the Cowles corruption. At one point the Wall Street Journal's Dorothy Rabinowitz brought the matter some national publicity. It took three elections, but finally the Cowles-owned councilmembers are all gone.
West was not among the reformers; he was in the state legislature during that period. For what it's worth, I didn't vote for him, because he seemed like a carpetbagger and his motives were unclear. I voted for a liberal councilman (Corker) who had done the hard work of pushing reform, and who had taken some Cowles arrows.
Ultimately we'll learn why the Cowles Empire decided to pull the string on West now, instead of during the campaign when the information could have helped the voters to reject West. Maybe it's mercenary, maybe just pure vengeance. (You wanted to get along without us? Okay, we'll show you what you get when you reject the Empire!) The newspaper's main reporter on the story, Karen Dorn Steele, is a hard-line leftist who has publicly stated her withering contempt for the Unenlightened Masses, so she's certainly a good choice for the latter motive.
Hmmmm.... Here's a page-27 story that may explain the 'why now' question, though it doesn't answer 'why not before the election'. The children of the previous mayor, a Cowles subsidiary named John Powers, just got off easy on a charge of burglary and assault. A very strange story, and under normal circumstances it would have been the biggest story in town.
Powers story
Update: Yarrrggh. Now West is pulling the McGreevey card, whining that the Cowles paper is against him because he's "a gay man", and "living a double life is hell." Come on, Jimbo, that won't help you in any possible direction. You're not a Democrat, and this isn't New Jersey, and the paper is solidly and consistently pro-homosexual. (Redundant, I know; like saying "this particular dog is strongly quadrupedal.")
As for living a double life, ever hear of self-control? I've been trying not to dive into the icky-pool, but I'll do it just this once: Bedsheets don't talk to reporters. People do.
BREAKING 4PM: West has finally given in; he will take a "leave of absence" to "gather my thoughts and prepare my defense." In other words, he's gone. ¶ 10:15 AM
Sidenote: this casts doubt on the oft-stated notion that corrupt city regimes keep the trains running on time. That may have been true of Daley's Chicago, but it's not true of any modern city machine I can think of.
Starting around '97, local radio hosts (including the redoubtable Detective Fuhrman) focused attention on the Cowles corruption. At one point the Wall Street Journal's Dorothy Rabinowitz brought the matter some national publicity. It took three elections, but finally the Cowles-owned councilmembers are all gone.
West was not among the reformers; he was in the state legislature during that period. For what it's worth, I didn't vote for him, because he seemed like a carpetbagger and his motives were unclear. I voted for a liberal councilman (Corker) who had done the hard work of pushing reform, and who had taken some Cowles arrows.
Ultimately we'll learn why the Cowles Empire decided to pull the string on West now, instead of during the campaign when the information could have helped the voters to reject West. Maybe it's mercenary, maybe just pure vengeance. (You wanted to get along without us? Okay, we'll show you what you get when you reject the Empire!) The newspaper's main reporter on the story, Karen Dorn Steele, is a hard-line leftist who has publicly stated her withering contempt for the Unenlightened Masses, so she's certainly a good choice for the latter motive.
Hmmmm.... Here's a page-27 story that may explain the 'why now' question, though it doesn't answer 'why not before the election'. The children of the previous mayor, a Cowles subsidiary named John Powers, just got off easy on a charge of burglary and assault. A very strange story, and under normal circumstances it would have been the biggest story in town.
Powers story
Update: Yarrrggh. Now West is pulling the McGreevey card, whining that the Cowles paper is against him because he's "a gay man", and "living a double life is hell." Come on, Jimbo, that won't help you in any possible direction. You're not a Democrat, and this isn't New Jersey, and the paper is solidly and consistently pro-homosexual. (Redundant, I know; like saying "this particular dog is strongly quadrupedal.")
As for living a double life, ever hear of self-control? I've been trying not to dive into the icky-pool, but I'll do it just this once: Bedsheets don't talk to reporters. People do.
BREAKING 4PM: West has finally given in; he will take a "leave of absence" to "gather my thoughts and prepare my defense." In other words, he's gone. ¶ 10:15 AM
