"Airport Land Use: City attorney blasts San Diego mayor on sunroad tower, again"

["Stephen Irwin" <stepheni@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Saturday, June 16, 2007

City attorney blasts San Diego mayor on sunroad tower, again 
The San Diego (CA) North County Times


SAN DIEGO - The saga continues on the city attorney's quest to prove that
Mayor Jerry Sanders is in bed with the developer of a controversial office
tower.

Locked in a bitter dispute with the mayor, City Attorney Michael Aguirre
held his second news conference in as many days Friday. He displayed records
that seem to reveal that Sanders and Sunroad Enterprises owner Aaron Feldman
met at City Hall two days before a stop-work order on the Sunroad Tower was
changed to allow construction to proceed.

The building in Kearny Mesa exceeds Federal Aviation Administration height
safety regulations because of its close proximity to Montgomery Field, a
city-owned airport.
 
"This comes to me as total duplicity. I don't think there's any question the
mayor hasn't been completely forthright," Aguirre said.

The meeting was held in the mayor's office on Dec. 19, four days after the
city sued Sunroad for building the 180-foot tower, which exceeds FAA limits
by 20 feet.

Two days later, Marcela Escobar-Eck, the city's top development official
modified an earlier stop-work order to allow Sunroad to "winterize" the
building while the dispute was being resolved.

Aguirre has also taken issue with Sanders for borrowing the services of an
county airport executive, which he claims is being used to find a way to
circumvent the FAA order.

However, Sanders said the executive, County Airport Authority Chief
Operations Officer Ted Sexton, is helping the city determine if it should
turn over operations of Montgomery Field and a second city-owned airfield to
the regional authority.

Aguirre characterizes the executive loan as a secret contract. Sanders said
that Aguirre knew about the arrangement.

Aguirre also questioned the timing of the resignation of Ronne Froman,
Sanders' chief operations officer, who is heading up an internal
investigation into the Sunroad issue. Her last day on the job is June 29.

"This is a major scandal in the city of San Diego, in this administration,
in which the number one person selected by the mayor who was in charge of
the investigation unexpectedly resigned yesterday," Aguirre said.

Mayoral spokesman Fred Sainz said Froman will complete the inquiry before
leaving.

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http://www.californiaaviation.org/dcfp/dcboard.php

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