NEWS

No criminal charges for Marion CAN DO! director

John Jarvis
Reporter

COLUMBUS – The Ohio Attorney General's Office decided not to file criminal charges against the Marion CAN DO! director stemming from ethics allegations when he was the Delaware County economic development director.

"After reviewing the allegations, it is our decision to exercise our prosecutorial discretion and not file criminal charges against you," states a copy of the letter dated March 26 that the attorney general's office provided that it sent to Gus Comstock. "However, any further violations by you will be reviewed fully and may result in criminal charges if probable cause exists."

The attorney general's office sent a letter, also dated March 26, to the Delaware County Prosecutor's Office, stating that the office after reviewing the investigation conducted by the Ohio Ethics Commission "into improper ethics violations by" Comstock and Pizzuti Consulting, a company the attorney general's office said "furnished tickets to Gus Comstock without requiring payment. No criminal wrongdoing was found."

Contacted on Tuesday by The Marion Star, Comstock said: "My reaction is actually not much, because I've never worried about this. It was never an issue for me because I knew I hadn't done anything wrong."

He said the investigation arose from a personality conflict with a Delaware County commissioner.

Comstock was investigated by the ethics commission for accepting free tickets from a developer of the proposed NorthGate Centre project near the U.S. 36/I-71 interchange.

He said he met with the ethics commission about December 2013 or January 2014 and told its members that he was developing contacts with other economic development officials at the events.

He said he was told that, if he didn't hear from the commission by February 2014, the investigation was complete and there was no merit to the allegations.

In December 2014, he said he was surprised to learn from The Marion Star that the ethics commission had referred the matter to the Delaware County Prosecutor's Office.

Delaware County Prosecutor Carol O'Brien in December 2014 said she referred the information from the ethics commission to the attorney general's office at the end of November because her office's civil division had worked extensively with the Delaware County commissioners and Comstock, and she wanted to eliminate any perception of a conflict of interest.

Comstock said he was offered tickets to an Ohio State football game but did not use them.

"I sent an email back to the person thanking him for the tickets and said, 'Maybe next year,' " he said. "That was the mistake I made. I was trying to be nice and didn't realize every little email was part of a public record."

He said that, even if he had used the football tickets, it would not have been wrong because he would have been doing so only to have contact with a business considering coming to Delaware County.

"In my mind, it was never a serious issue," he said, adding that he was concerned about the "public perception."

The ethics commission website states that a public official or employee cannot accept a gift if it is either "substantial in value" or from a source that is "doing or seeking to do business with, regulated by, or interested in matters before the public agency he or she serves."

Comstock said he doesn't think the review by the attorney general's office and the investigation by the ethics commission affect his effectiveness as Marion CAN DO! director.

"I've told people I've never felt warmer in a new job than I have here," he said. "Everybody's been warm, been welcoming. I think some of it is Marion's going through this rebirth, this revitalization. I think there's a hunger in Marion for new things. I'm just happy to be part of it."

Marion CAN DO! is a nonprofit corporation funded by the city and county of Marion and private contributions that works as the city's and county's economic development organization.

jjarvis@marionstar.com

740-375-5154

Twitter: @jmwjarvis