Homeless Man Explains How Mayoral Petitions Got Signed
CHICAGO (WBBM) - A homeless man whose signature is on the bottom of mayoral election petitions for James Meeks and Rob Halpin is telling his side of the story.
LISTEN: Newsradio 780's Mike Krauser Reports
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Arthur Hardy says he didn't gather all those thousands of signatures himself, only a small portion of them.
Hardy spoke with Chicago Sun-Times columnist Mark Brown.
Brown reports Hardy told him that other people, most of them homeless, circulated the petitions and the signatures, Hardy said, are legitimate.
His signature on the petitions declares that he was present when each signature was collected.
If he wasn't, it's against the law. And Hardy admits to the paper he wasn't.
Hardy said he was recruited by a West Side minister, Bishop C.L. Sparks, who has a consulting business, Sparks Group LLC.
And it was Sparks, Hardy said, who instructed him to sign all the petitions.
The Sun-Times also reports the notary signature on the petitions was a forgery.
Sparks would only say he didn't touch one petition.
