The San Diego Ethics Commission found today that Sunroad Enterprises executive and former city employee Tom Story didn’t violate the city’s post-employment lobbying laws in his work for the company, which built the infamous office tower in the flight path of Montgomery Field.
Story, a former chief of staff for Mayor Dick Murphy, was hired by Sunroad Enterprises 2005 and became embroiled in the 2007 scandal over the Kearny Mesa building that violated Federal Aviation Authority guidelines. City Attorney Mike Aguirre brought criminal charges against Story for violating lobbying laws.
A judge kicked Aguirre off the case, ruling that he could not bring criminal charges while litigating a civil case against Sunroad. The criminal charges against Story were dismissed in April because no one else came forward to continue the prosecution.
In a letter to Story dated today, Ethics Commission Executive Director Stacy Fulhorst wrote that the Commission found no evidence to support of allegations that he directly lobbied City Officials in violation of a one-year “cooling off” period in the city’s ethics ordinance that prohibits former city officials from contacting current city employees about a project that he or she worked on.
Aguirre said the Commission “completely misanalyzed” the case. “To say there is no evidence is inaccurate and untrue,” he said.