Community Spotlight... Jeff Buckner is a family man and an active member in the Spokane GLBTQA community ...
Options for action proposed, invited
The Stonewall is not rehashing on these pages the voluminous details of the scandal that surrounds Spokane Mayor Jim West. Anyone who needs this background should check the Web sites of either the Spokesman-Review or the Inlander. “What’s the next step?” Nov. 19 forum participants asked. “Get involved,” said the panelists and discussion moderator, Rogers High School teacher Peter Perkins, who noted the keen interest of young people in the evolving story. Among options cited: Join one or more of the many GLBTQA groups whose work is discussed on these pages regularly; actively support candidates for public office who reflect your values or run for office yourself; speak up when unfair laws or policies are proposed or when you discover inaccuracies in something you read or hear; come out of the closet – be proud of who you are.
Inside This Issue Arts & Entertainment......................... 12 Be Our Guest........................................16 Business Directory.............................. 21 Calendar............................................... 22 Community Service............................ 23 Family............................................. .........9 Healthy Options.................................. 20 Illuminations....................................... 18 National / International News............ 8 No Rest for the Wicked . ..................... 6 OUT! in the Middle . ............................ 7 Regional News...................................... 6 Resource Directory............................. 23 Reviews & Previews............................ 14 Spokane News....................................... 4 Tell Trinity............................................. 17 Voices...................................................... 2
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Vol. XIV, No. 12 Serving the GLBTQA Community of the Inland Northwest since 1992
December 2005
Community weighs in: West must go
Photos by P. Devine
Page 9
Above, L to R: Moderator Peter Perkins and panelists Lorin Miller, Travis Mayfield, Suzi Hokonson, Jill Wagner, Brad Read and Dean Lynch prepare for the start of the community forum. Inset: Jerry Davis and Dean Lynch
by Catherine D. WIllis
“Sticky” is how the SpokesmanReview’s Jill Wagner described the multi-layered story of Spokane’s embattled Mayor Jim West in her “Out on the Town” column Nov. 18 – and the term was repeated many times the next day by her, fellow panelists and audience members at a community forum sponsored by Stonewall News Northwest at CenterStage in downtown Spokane. Seven panelists chosen to reflect diverse opinions and backgrounds led a sometimes spirited discussion that touched on everything from the breadth of allegations against the mayor in the long-unfolding scandal to conjectures about the actual status of his sexual orientation to the recognition of positive achievements in Spokane government
since his election as mayor in 2003. Few overlooked his gay-unfriendly legislative record; most took some stand on the Dec. 6 recall vote; all seemed eager to explore the impact of the story on the area’s GLBTQA community. Mayor West was asked to participate in the two-hour program,
“If I stay in the closet, I can’t be effective because I’ll always be hiding something.” –Dean Lynch or to send a representative to champion his position, but he twice declined the invitation. Independent efforts by the Stonewall to recruit West backers to speak at the event were unsuccessful. “I want to clear up a few fabrications,” began panelist Jerry Davis,
an openly gay attorney who worked with Shannon Sullivan, the citizen activist who initiated the recall process. West and his attorneys are “trying to manipulate the facts, saying that they can’t get his side of the story out, that he can’t question his accusers.” Davis, counsel to Ryan Oelrich and an unnamed man, both of whom have claimed the mayor offered them jobs after online encounters, called this “flatout wrong” and explained that a meeting planned for this purpose was cancelled at the last minute by the West team. Panelist Lorin Miller, a transgendered mental health professional, raised questions about due process and our legal system. “There are few in this world, or in this audience, that don’t have a skeleton in their closet.” She noted that “Mr. West is currently wearing the Scarlet Letter.” Continued on page18
Local wins World Habitat Award
Kelly Lerner of One World Design Architecture accepted the 2005 World Habitat Award at the United Nations World Habitat Day celebration in Jakarta, Indonesia, Oct. 3. The prize honors her body of work, specifically her contribution to a team effort to produce affordable, energyefficient homes and schools in five northeastern provinces of China. The project, funded by the Kadoorie Foundation of Hong Kong, spans seven years and to date includes 603 houses in 59 villages and three schools. Straw-bale construction technology is Lerner’s forte and the feature that distinguishes the award-winning project from traditional building endeavors. An old process, rediscovered and
updated to incorporate advanced design techniques, straw-bale construction is especially suited to cold climates. Unlike wood or bricks, which have little or no insulation value, strawbales have a CRSI value of 5.8; the value for brick walls is 0.33. Straw-bales are comparatively lightweight, earthquake-resistant and inexpensive. These are essential factors in the region of China where the homebuilding process has been successfully applied. Lerner has been working with an international aid agency that serves poor rural populations. The aid group
won provincial support for the first straw-bale building after a brick school collapsed during a relatively minor earthquake; the straw-bale replacement withstood a 5.6 jolt that leveled all the buildings around it. Straw-bale construction is easily taught. Lerner serves as technical consultant on the project and there is a project manager, but thousands of community laborers have actually built the homes and local governments have been instrumental in standardizing building codes to facilitate construction efforts. Continued on page 11