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"Sacramento developer Philip Harvey has been fined $6,000 by the Fair Political Practices Commission.He has agreed to pay the penalty for using his official position as a member of the Sacramento Planning and Design Commission to influence decisions about Curtis Park Village, a property where he has a direct financial interest as vice president of the firm that\u2019s building the project, Petrovich Development Company.Watch report: Developer fined over Sacramento project\"Anybody that has a particular financial interest in something shouldn\u2019t be involved in making decisions that affect that interest,\" said Tom Carroll, a Curtis Park resident.David Knox, who also lives in Curtis Park, agreed.\"Yeah, that\u2019s not right,\" he said. \"(Harvey) probably should not be involved as a commissioner as it relates to this project.\"The 70-acre site will one day include 500 housing units and 180,000 square feet of retail space, in an area including a former railyard just east of Sacramento City College.But the FPPC found Harvey erred by communicating with planning commission staffers about the removal of trees, instead of recusing himself from making any decisions.Harvey told KCRA 3 he had no comment on the matter, which will be voted on formally by the FPPC next Thursday.But Harvey did receive some support from Eye on Sacramento, a civic watchdog group.\"This was a case where a member of the planning staff reached out to him,\" said Craig Powell, Eye on Sacramento\u2019s president. \"He didn\u2019t initiate contact and it was about an incredibly minor matter -- the placement of a tree.\u00A0So, in the scale of violations of conflict-of-interest rules, this is a pretty small one.\"But Eye on Sacramento applauded the enforcement, saying it sends an important message to anyone involved in urban planning.\"In cases like this, I just don\u2019t think it\u2019s a smart idea for someone with so much business before the city to have an employee serving on a critical body like the planning commission,\" Powell said.Harvey\u2019s term on the Sacramento Planning and Design Commission expired July 1, but he has reapplied for the position.That decision will be made by the Sacramento City Council.Planning and design commissioners are paid just $100 for every meeting they attend, with a limit of $250 a month, but they wield big influence on urban planning decisions.\u00A0"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.kcra.com/article/sacramento-developer-fined-6-000-by-fppc/6415174>