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November 28, 2007
Planning Commissioner Fined for Atlantic Yards Conflict of Interest
The NY Sun
By Benjamin Sarlin
This Sun article covering Dolly Williams's $4,000 fine from the NYC Conflict of Interest Board slightly exaggerates the embattled Planning Commish's role in the approval of Bruce Ratner's controversial megaproject.
Despite her critical role in approving the project, Ms. Williams in 2004 invested $250,000 in the New Jersey Nets, which is owned by the developer of Atlantic Yards, Forest City Ratner Companies.
Atlantic Yards is a state project. NYC's Planning Commission played a bit part, approving changes related to the project, but not the project itself, which was approved last December by the Public Authorities Control Board, which is comprised of representatives of the Governor, Assembly Speaker and Senate Leader.
The article goes into more detail, which clarifies Dolly Williams's actions and the Planning Commission's actual role:
Ms. Williams, the CFO of A. Williams Construction, signed a statement with the Conflicts of Interest Board admitting that she had invested in the Nets just weeks before she voted in favor of the downtown Brooklyn redevelopment plan, which would benefit some of the land to be included in the Atlantic Yards project. The decision by the board comes more than three years after the Brooklyn Paper originally reported that Ms. Williams's financial holdings posed a conflict of interest. After her relationship with the developer was disclosed, Ms. Williams recused herself from future involvement with the project, including design recommendations in 2006 that gave the commission's stamp of approval to the plan.
NoLandGrab: Williams has connsistently displayed a pattern of personal entitlement, as demonstrated by her use of a City Government parking placard to illegally park her signature yellow Porsche.
Posted by lumi at November 28, 2007 5:08 AM