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Storms calls ethics ruling vindication

She says the ruling should lead to the dismissal of a criminal investigation based on the same complaint.

By BEN MONTGOMERY
Published March 22, 2006

VALRICO - Ronda Storms stood under the giant live oaks of a Valrico Drive estate called the Storms Shelter and told the reporters behind a row of television cameras that she had a request.

You covered the story when claims of ethical violations were made against me, she said. So now that I've been cleared by the state Ethics Commission, do it again.

Same television air time. Same space and place in the newspapers.

"What I'm looking for," she said, "is that you not put it back under the obituaries."

Storms called the news conference to herald a recent decision by the Ethics Commission to dismiss a complaint made by good-government activist Marilyn Smith.

Smith claimed that Storms violated the county charter by asking county building official Dave Ford to delay a certificate of occupancy for a controversial bikini bar not far from Storms' home. Ford testified in a federal court proceeding that Storms had requested that as a favor.

But Storms, who does not like strip clubs, shot back Tuesday, reading to the television cameras a good portion of the Ethics Commission's ruling. Vindication was the word of the day.

Describing the allegations of ethical violations as the "beginning shots in a long war," Storms said she is used to personal attacks.

"These sorts of things can either crush you or make you stronger," Storms said. "It either crushes the rock, or it turns it into a diamond. Me? I like pressure."

Smith, who has led the most recent legal charge to unseat Storms, said she wasn't surprised by the commission's decision.

"They've never found anybody guilty," she said in a phone interview.

Though Storms was cleared of the claims of ethics violations, still looming is a criminal investigation stemming from the same complaints.

In a letter to State Attorney Mark Ober, Smith and First Amendment lawyer Luke Lirot asked investigators to look at whether Storms violated state laws that bar interference in the decisions of building officials by unlicensed people or misuse of a public position to benefit others.

Assistant State Attorney Pam Bondi has said that the State Attorney's Office would not confirm or deny that it was looking into the claims. "We still can't discuss the matter," she said Tuesday.

Storms, meanwhile, said she was interviewed by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement on Valentine's Day but couldn't talk in detail about the criminal investigation.

The state Senate candidate did say this: "It goes without saying that if there's no ethical violation, then there's no criminal violation."

She trumpeted her involvement with the county staff, which critics have called "meddling." She produced colorful bar graphs showing she's contacted or referred work to staff members 6,209 times between late 1998 and late 2005, more than twice as often as the closest commissioner.

"I am the most prolific generator of referrals and work to staff," she said. "I believe it's my duty to be able to advocate on behalf of my constituents."

Clearly galvanized by the Ethics Commission's findings, Storms pontificated at the news conference about the county's climate of immorality. She preached against strip bar owners and patrons, criminals, pedophiles, judges who wear women's underpants and Hillsborough County business leaders who board floats and cast beads to 17-year-old girls baring their breasts.

"We're going to change this community," she said, "and we're going to make history."

That's the problem, said Smith, later in the day.

"She's a miserable, mean, vitriolic person who hangs the Christian flag over all our heads," she said. "Those aren't the kind of Christians I know."

As the news conference neared its end, Storms said she would take questions.

"But hold on a minute, my eye is watering," she said. "There's something in it. I'm not crying."

Ben Montgomery can be reached at bmontgomery@sptimes.com or 813 661-2443.

[Last modified March 22, 2006, 01:57:08]