[3] West admitted engaging in homosexual behavior with adults, despite an earlier record of supporting "anti-gay" legislation.

Born in Salem, Oregon, West was raised in Spokane and graduated from Lewis and Clark High School in 1969.

[4] He attended the University of Nevada in Reno, joined ROTC, then served in the U.S. Army as a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division.

He concurrently attended Spokane Community College and graduated from Gonzaga University with a degree in criminal justice in 1978.

He supported several "anti-gay" bills, including one that would have banned gays and lesbians from working in schools and day care centers.

When Jim West turned up for the meeting on a Spokane golf course the newspaper editor was also present and correctly concluded that Cobra82 was the mayor.

West called the molestation allegations "flat lies," but admitted to having private online relationships in the past year through the Gay.com website.

In a Spokane City Council meeting immediately afterward, a resolution requesting that he step down passed unanimously (7–0), yet West announced he intended to continue on as mayor.

Organizers of a recall gathered a sufficient number of signatures, and a special mail-in election was held on December 6, 2005, to determine whether West would remain in office.

[13] His term ended on December 16, 2005, the day the final votes were certified by the Spokane County Auditor's office.

In the FBI report, Attorney Mark Bartlett said, "We did not find facts that would justify initiating federal criminal charges."

He also told KREM 2 in his last TV interview that during his tenure in the state legislature he only regretted one vote: for a bill that would have banned gays from working in schools and day-care centers.

He joined the conservative Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church of Spokane led by Pastor Lonnie Mitchell.