Markeshia Ricks Photo
Mayor Toni Harp.
In the face of criticism over the hiring of a woman who admitted to committing petitioning fraud, Mayor Toni Harp stood by her campaign team.
Harp did that Friday when asked about her reelection campaign team’s decision to pay Priscilla Knox to work for it.
Her campaign had obtained a sworn affidavit from Knox stating that she had people falsely sign the names of relatives on petitions to get Marcus Paca’s name on the ballot for the Sept. 12 Democratic mayoral primary. At least one such signer confirmed that indeed happened. Knox said Paca told her to do that; Paca denied it.
Knox told the Harp campaign — and, subsequently, the Independent — that she came forward with the story in order to punish Paca over a payment dispute. She also told the campaign, when she made her statement, that she was hoping the Harp campaign would subsequently hire her. The campaign did; the assistant campaign manager, Rick Melita, denied that the hiring was a “quid pro quo” for having made the statement. (Read a full story about the case here.)
The decision to hire Knox came under criticism from readers posting comments to a news story about the episode.
Harp told the Independent Friday that she had never met Knox before and, until reading an Independent story about the case, hadn’t known about her hiring.
“I guess it’s done now. She was hired,” Harp said of Knox. “I stand behind my team. I have to really discuss it with them. I’m over doing the other job [as mayor], so I don’t know everything they do. I stand behind their decision to hire her.
“I haven’t met her or had a chance to talk to her to hear her side of the story. Obviously Marcus [Paca] thought there was some value she could bring to her campaign. I guess my campaign manager thought there was value she could bring to our campaign. I trust their judgment.”
Paca told the Independent that he had hired Knox, who had worked for him alder campaigns, in an effort to help someone who was struggling. (Knox is unemployed, has battled with drug addiction, and has an extensive criminal record.)
“She told me she was in dire need of money. I help people when they ask for help if I can. She was the only person who got paid for signatures. Everyone else was volunteers. The only reason she got paid was because I’m compassionate,” Paca said. “I care about people I wanted to help her. It goes to show: You can’t help everybody.”