Stock Conflicts Admitted by San Clemente Planner : City hall: Harold Joseph says he held shares in a company that benefited from his vote on a housing project. ‘I didn’t know it was illegal,’ he says.

A city planning commissioner acknowledged Friday that he held stock in a land development company at the same time that he voted in favor of plans for three San Clemente housing projects owned by the firm.

But Commissioner Harold Joseph said he sold the stock last month when City Clerk Myrna Erway reviewed his state-required financial disclosure statement and pointed out the apparent conflict of interest.

“I sold it the same day,” said Joseph, who owns a real estate firm in San Clemente with his wife, Mary. “I didn’t know it was illegal. There was never any intent to do anything irregular.”

Joseph held more than $10,000 in Centex Development Corp. stock when he joined a 5-0 vote by the Planning Commission in November to approve the three subdivisions, which will total 476 single-family homes and condominiums when built.

State law prohibits appointed and elected officials from voting on issues in which they have a financial interest, said Jeevan Singh Ahuja, senior attorney for the state Fair Political Practices Commission.

The state could levy fines of up to $2,000 per infraction, and civil and misdemeanor criminal penalties could also be imposed, the FPPC attorney said.

Joseph has been involved with Centex since 1988, when he acknowledged to city officials that he helped steer the development company toward property in east San Clemente. The Texas-based development company is building 398 homes on the Forster Ranch site.

Although the planning commissioner received a finder’s fee of more than $10,000, the city attorney ruled that Joseph had done nothing wrong because he was paid the commission by Estrella Properties Ltd., the firm from which Centex bought the Forster Ranch site. In addition, Joseph has abstained from voting on the Forster Ranch development.

Nonetheless, the City Council subsequently passed an ordinance requiring immediate disclosure of any conflict of interest from city employees, which strengthened state requirements that a conflict be reported within 30 days.

Joseph said he and his wife invested in Centex in April, 1989, “because it was a fun thing to do. This whole thing had been swirling around, and then it was over and I said, ‘Gee Mary, let’s go out and buy some of this, it would be fun.’ ”

In retrospect, “it was bad judgment on my part,” Joseph admitted. “I certainly didn’t mean to break any laws.”

Three of four council members contacted said they would not vote to renew Joseph’s two-year term as commissioner when it expires in June.

Councilman Brian J. Rice said Joseph is “using every loophole he can find to remain on the Planning Commission. It’s pretty sad when the city clerk has to point out the problems here.”

Mayor Candace Haggard said, “There are so many qualified people who can do this job, if there is any hint of impropriety we should let someone else do the job.”

Councilman Scott Diehl said the stock purchase “was not very prudent,” but he also said Joseph has never shown any indications of being influenced by a developer.