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Ex-mayor offers to pay for breach

Former Clearwater Mayor Brian Aungst says his voting on a condo he had invested in was a mistake.

By AARON SHAROCKMAN
Published January 19, 2006

	"For this honest mistake -- I apologize," Brian Aungst writes in an e-mail. Read the e-mail

CLEARWATER - Former Clearwater Mayor Brian Aungst admitted Wednesday he violated city ethics laws and offered to pay $5,000 for his failure to disclose an investment in a beachfront condominium in 2002.

Aungst wrote city leaders about what he called a "technical violation" of city ordinances - voting on a final plat for the project without telling anyone he had reserved a unit.

His e-mail arrived a day after Mayor Frank Hibbard told Aungst that the City Council would discuss the issue, including filing a possible civil lawsuit, tonight.

"I would like to assure everyone that my failure to disclose was an oversight and not done with any intent to deceive," wrote Aungst, a public relations manager for Bright House Networks. "For this honest mistake - I apologize."

In an unusual step, Aungst volunteered to pay the city $5,000 - what would be the maximum fine under the city's ethics code - and suggested the money be donated to local charities. He did not return a message left on his cell phone Wednesday.

Hibbard, who received the letter at about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, said the council would still discuss the ethics violation at the end of its meeting tonight.

The possible ethics infraction was first documented in a November St. Petersburg Times investigation of Aungst's purchase of a condominium in the Belle Harbor project.

A subsequent inquiry by Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney Bernie McCabe concluded Aungst violated city ethics laws. The criminal inquiry, which was made public last week, found no evidence Aungst received any financial benefit from developers in exchange for his support.

Aungst, 51, was the most vocal supporter in City Hall for the 200-unit Belle Harbor project.

As the reservation period for units neared in spring 2002, Aungst told developer David A. Mack of Connecticut that he was interested in purchasing a condominium, the state attorney's investigation found.

Mack placed Aungst on a special VIP list, which was limited to friends of the developers, project investors and building subcontractors. The VIP status vaulted Aungst ahead of dozens of other prospective buyers.

Aungst, however, told investigators he did not know he was on a special list.

In June 2002, Aungst agreed to pay list price, $347,000, for a fourth-floor, two-bedroom model.

But Aungst did not alert council members he had placed a $34,700 deposit on a unit in Belle Harbor in August 2002 when he voted to approve the platting of the $130-million project.

Two years later when the unit was built, Aungst closed his purchase on a Wednesday and resold it that Friday for $580,000.

[Last modified January 19, 2006, 01:48:21]