Spokane City Councilman Mike Fagan Has Strong Words For Inslee - Spokane, North Idaho News & Weather KHQ.com

Joint Statement on Mike Fagan's Remarks:

On February 21st, a Tim Eyman fundraising newsletter, co-signed by our fellow City Councilmember Mike Fagan called Governor Jay Inslee a "lying whore." Surprisingly, instead of apologizing, Councilmember Fagan defended his actions as appropriate to a KHQ news producer yesterday afternoon.  We believe such degrading name-calling has no place in political discourse.  It is especially disturbing that one elected official would use such demeaning terms to describe another elected official.  Councilmember Fagan is an elected representative of Spokane and his inappropriate words reflect poorly on our city and our citizens.  We strongly condemn his actions yesterday.  We call on all elected officials in Spokane County to condemn this behavior and bring civility back into our shared political discussion.

Ben Stuckart                            Jon Snyder                               Amber Waldref

City Council President             Councilman, District 2             Councilwoman, District 1

PREVIOUS COVERAGE:

SPOKANE, Wash. - Initiative promoter Tim Eyman and Spokane City Councilman Mike Fagan sent out an email Thursday calling newly elected Gov. Jay Inslee a "lying whore". KHQ received a copy of that email.

The letter was signed by Fagan, Eyman and another man, all of them part of Voters Want More Choices. The email was soliciting money for the group. Voters Want More Choices advocates for lower taxes through statewide voter initiatives.

The email appears to have been sent in response to a House Democrat transportation package that would raise the gas tax in Washington by 10 cents a gallon. This package is the first step in what is expected to be a lengthy dialogue between both houses of the legislature and Governor Jay Inslee.

KHQ spoke with Council member Mike Fagan via email. In our first email, we asked the council member if he stood by using the term "lying whore" to describe the Governor of this state. This was Council member Fagan's response:

"Please see the following definitions of the words "lying" and "whore".

lying (Webster definition): Characterized by untruth:a lying witness. See Synonyms at dishonest.

whore (Webster definition): A person considered as having compromised principles for personal gain.

It is really unfortunate that a lot of folks aren't aware, or won't take into consideration that words tend to have multiple meanings as you can see in the above Webster definition. We tend to always assume the worst.

In this case, as a principle of Voters Want More Choices I do stand by the quote. Our intent in using the term was two fold; 1. The word "whore" was used in the correct context per the definition above, and 2. the email generated the intended interest by those who received it.

I really have to wonder why the media hasn't shown the same kind of interest in Inslee's broken promises to the same extent as the media is showing with a few tough words in an email?

Regards,

Mike Fagan"

In a follow-up email, KHQ asked Council member Fagan if he thinks "lying whore" is appropriate language for a member of the Spokane City Council to use. This was his response:

"Mr. Thoburn,

While I would tend to agree that a statement like that wouldn't be appropriate coming from a city councilman, it didn't.

It came from the principals of a political action committee whom on their own time, using their own resources sent an email to convey information and express frustration towards another politician who has gained tremendously through lies.

Any thoughts on my question with regards to why the media isn't reporting on the lies ?

Regards,

Mike Fagan"

According to The Spokesman Review, Spokane Mayor David Condon said he wanted to talk to Fagan before offering a comment.

And again, Mike Fagan says he wants the media to focus on what Candidate Jay Inslee said, and what Governor Jay Inslee is doing. KHQ plans to investigate.

Link To Voters Want More Choices: http://www.voterswantmorechoices.com/

Link To Gov. Jay Inslee's Website: http://www.governor.wa.gov/