Voters in Washington's second-largest city will get a referendum on their mayor's morality in a special election.

The Spokane County auditor counted enough signatures yesterday to hold a recall of Mayor Jim West on Dec. 6, setting up an unusual campaign that will focus on West's alleged misuse of his office to get sexual favors.

West has been under constant criticism since May, when his hometown newspaper began publishing allegations that the mayor offered city jobs to prospective male sexual partners, some of whom he met online.

Next week, Spokane voters may learn even more. A visiting judge will consider whether to release the Internet history of the mayor's city-owned laptop computer.

Attorneys for The Spokesman-Review newspaper and the City Council are seeking access to those files — some 1,800 in all — to see whether West viewed pornography or other materials. West's lawyers have fought the newspaper, saying those computer files were created when the mayor was not at work and are not subject to the state open-records law.

Neil Beaver, a leader of the fledgling recall campaign, said the controversy over the computer files illustrates why the mayor should go.

"Spokane is being made fun of nationwide, and we need to get past that," said Beaver, who also works as an aide to state Sen. Lisa Brown, Eastern Washington's most powerful Democrat. "We want to recall mayor West to rid our city of this embarrassment."

The campaign has been endorsed by the county Democratic and Republican parties, and key business groups and the City Council have called for the mayor to resign.

West, 55, cultivated a reputation as a combative conservative Republican during 21 years in the state Legislature before being elected mayor in 2003. He said yesterday he will fight the recall based on the accomplishments of his nearly two years as mayor.

"It will be an election campaign: Shall Jim West be the mayor or not," said West. "I think the voters will review my record and vote for Jim West."

West has battled colon cancer since 2003, and in July, two months into the scandal, he announced he was undergoing his third round of chemotherapy after doctors found lesions on his liver.

He has lost weight and clumps of his hair, and appeared haggard to employees. But he said he played 72 holes of golf in the past week while keeping a nearly full schedule.

"I don't think a sick guy does that," said West. "I talked to my doctor today, and we're both surprised by the forecast of my imminent death."

The Spokesman-Review's investigation began in May with allegations by two men that West molested them in the 1970s, when West was a Boy Scout leader and sheriff's deputy. West vehemently denied the allegations, noting that both accusers are convicted felons who briefly stayed in the same jail.

Those allegations are not included in the recall petition, nor are they the focus of a personnel-misconduct investigation launched by the City Council.

The FBI is also conducting an investigation, and in July seized West's home computers. A spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney in Seattle, which is leading the investigation, declined comment yesterday.

Mark Busto, a Bellevue lawyer hired by the City Council, said he had hoped to wrap up his investigation by the end of October. But he said that deadline has been delayed because of the still-secret computer files.

"The goal of the City Council is to provide some answers to the public — and to themselves as well — about what happened," Busto said. "The public can make their own determination, and in that way, to bring closure to this."

Jonathan Martin: 206-464-2605 or jmartin@seattletimes.com