SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) – John McKay, the U.S. attorney for Western Washington, will direct a preliminary FBI investigation into possible federal criminal violations by Spokane Mayor Jim West, McKay’s office said.

West returned to work last week after taking a 10-day leave to prepare his defense against allegations of sexual impropriety and misuse of his office by offering jobs to young men he met in a gay chat room.

West, 55, continued to decline requests for interviews.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Bartlett has been given the special prosecutor assignment, confirmed Emily Langlie, spokesperson for McKay’s office.

McKay’s office is handling the federal investigation because Jim McDevitt, the U.S. attorney for Eastern Washington, asked to be recused because he is a friend of West and contributed to his campaign.

The U.S. Department of Justice approved the transfer of the case to the Seattle office, McKay said in a release, declining further comment.

West said hello to reporters as he entered an annual Greater Spokane Association of Evangelicals leadership prayer breakfast, but declined to be interviewed.

The mayor “has returned to work and is keeping a normal schedule,” spokesperson Marlene Feist said.

Meanwhile, the city opened its own investigation by appointing a four-member independent panel to look into allegations that West violated city policies.

Retired judges Harold P. Clarke and Phil Thompson, Michael Stebbins of the Gonzaga University Institute of Ethics and Eastern Washington University economics professor Tom Truelove will report their findings to City Attorney Michael Connelly, Feist said.

A fifth member may be named to the panel, which will have discretion to determine the scope and methods of the inquiry. City officials asked the group “to be thorough, but as quick as they can,” Feist said.

On the day he returned to City Hall, West met with the top city officials he calls his cabinet and spent much of the day in meetings, then attended a neighborhood council meeting.

The mayor announced he was going on leave May 9. Since then, he has not said publicly if he plans to serve the 31 months remaining in his term.

City Council President Dennis Hession said he met with West and discussed City Hall business but not the controversy.

The return of West is problematical, Hession told The Spokesman-Review newspaper.

“I think it’s pretty disruptive because there is a cloud over this administration,” he said. “Until these issues are resolved, it’s going to be awkward inside and outside of City Hall.”

Councilmember Cherie Rodgers, who has said West should resign, dismissed his reappearance as “public relations.”

On May 5, the newspaper began publishing a series of stories that included accusations that West molested two boys in the 1970s when he was a deputy sheriff and a Boy Scout leader. West has denied those accounts, which were given by two convicted felons with acknowledged drug problems.

He has acknowledged seeking dates on Gay.com, and the newspaper has reported that he offered gifts, favors and jobs at City Hall to lure young men.

Only a recall petition and public vote can remove him from office. A motion demanding that West take a formal leave of absence failed on a tie vote in the City Council with one member absent.

A vote is scheduled May 30 on a resolution submitted by Rodgers that asks West to resign immediately.

Meanwhile, a Spokane woman has filed a second petition to have West recalled by voters.

Shannon Sullivan’s new petition replaced one she filed May 9 which was rejected by the Spokane County prosecutor’s office because she failed to provide a sworn statement that her accusations against West were true and that she had knowledge of the facts on which her petition was based.