The Morning Report
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Pam Naughton, attorney for Tom Story, just called. She had this to say about the city attorney’s case against her client: “I think he’s totally misapplying the law and he doesn’t have the facts to make the case.”
She said her client’s actions didn’t violate the city’s lobbying law because he wasn’t lobbying — trying to influence a decision. Story was simply conducting what’s know as “ministerial” business.
In the search warrant unsealed yesterday, Aguirre accuses Story of violating the lobbying laws by asking a city official to help facilitate a meeting with a contractor of Story’s employer, Sunroad.
Aguirre claims that’s lobbying — and it’s improper because Story hadn’t let one year pass after his employment with the city. Naughton said it’s not lobbying. “If somebody didn’t pick up his trash, he can call someone at the city,” she said.
She also said the search warrant wasn’t valid because the city attorney didn’t have probably cause to allege a conspiracy. The conspiracy charge is what allowed Aguirre to make his case a felony (the other charges are misdemeanors) and a felony is necessary to get a search warrant in the first place. More on this issue in a moment.