In 2003, KTWO-TV News Director and Anchor Tom Grant lost the race for mayor of Spokane, Wash., to a man who is currently embroiled in a sex scandal that has rocked the eastern Washington city of 200,000.

Last Thursday, The Spokesman-Review, Spokane's daily newspaper, broke a story stating Mayor Jim West, the man who beat Grant in 2003, had allegedly molested several children when he was a sheriff's deputy and Boy Scout leader in late 1970s and early 1980s.

No criminal molestation charges against West can be filed because the statue of limitations has expired in the case, wire reports state.

The Spokesman-Review also reported it hired a computer expert to track West's visits to a gay chat room, where the mayor allegedly offered a fictitious 18-year-old male a City Hall internship and other gifts, according to wire reports.

And a story published Monday in the Spokane paper quoted two 24-year-old men who claimed West offered them City Hall jobs after initial meets in a gay chat room.

One of the 24-year-olds, Ryan Oelrich, accepted West's appointment to the city's Human Rights Commission in April 2004 after meeting West on-line at Gay.com, wire reports state.

Oelrich said he resigned from the commission in January after West "hounded me for months, telling me I was cute and asking me out on dates," according to wire stories.

"It's a sad day for Spokane," said Grant, who worked as both a television and print journalist in the eastern Washington city for about 12 years before entering politics. "It's incredibly sad now to see this taint of sexual molestation be thrown on its highest elected official."

As both a journalist and then as a political candidate, Grant said he heard rumors regarding West involving the alleged molestation incidents and about his homosexuality.

But the rumors Grant heard as a journalist regarding West - who, before being elected mayor, was a Republican state senator - could never be substantiated, the KTWO anchor said. And Grant refused to bring up the talk he heard about West during the campaign because he did not want to employ negative tactics, he added.

Although Grant said it did not surprise him that stories about West's unsavory character came to light, the anchor did say it is ironic that The Spokesman-Review, a paper that supported West in the 2003 campaign, broke the story.

One of the key issues surrounding the 2003 mayoral campaign had to do with the construction of a parking garage that financially benefited the Cowles family, who publish The Spokesman-Review and own several television stations in the Spokane area, Grant said.

The uproar around this parking garage is what made Grant run for mayor in the first place, he said.

Due to Grant's views on the parking garage issue, the Cowles family, and, consequently, The Spokesman-Review, strongly supported West's candidacy for mayor, KTWO's anchor said.

Despite the fact that he and West did not exactly see eye-to-eye on many of Spokane's issues, Grant said West never made any personal attacks during the 2003 campaign.

"I don't have any animosity against him," he said.

However, Grant does think West should step down as mayor because there is no way he can lead Spokane's government well after being accused of the things he has been accused of, he said.

"He should resign," Grant said. "It is quite clear now that he is so ineffective that there is no reason to stay in office. He can't do his job any longer. And until he steps down, the city can't go on with its work."

If West does step down, the people of Spokane should not look for Grant to come back to run for mayor again, he said. The anchor is quite happy here in Casper, a town both he and his wife love, he added.

Staff writer Brendan Burke can be reached at (307) 266-0589 or Brendan.Burke@casperstartribune.net.