Springfield mayor hopeful denies cash-for-votes claims

Polling place staff cite video footage

Springfield City Councilor Justin Hurst on Thursday adamantly denied allegations that his mayoral campaign paid for votes and accused incumbent Mayor Domenic J. Sarno’s administration of trying to discredit him days before the election.

“Any accusation that my team paid residents in exchange for their vote is unequivocally false and nothing more than a last-minute smear campaign by an administration that is vulnerable for the first time in 16 years,” Hurst said at a late-morning news conference in front of his home. “This is a coordinated effort by Mayor Sarno to steal the election and use municipal employees and resources to do so.”

The allegations stem in part from video footage that appears to show Hurst campaign volunteer Gilfrey T. Gregory, a convicted felon with a lengthy criminal history, peeling off bills and handing them to people outside City Hall after they voted early on Saturday, the Republican newspaper reported.

The general election is scheduled for Tuesday.

The newspaper also interviewed a man who said he was paid $10 to vote for Hurst.

“That gentleman is a volunteer for our campaign,” Hurst said of Gregory. “That particular gentleman has spent more time in prison than he’s spent out. But he’s a good man. And he’s [among the] individuals that I’m fighting for here in the city of Springfield. We’re running an election that is inclusive. We know that individuals struggle. We know that. But we also know that people want to make sure that they turn their pain into purpose.”

Gregory couldn’t be reached for comment Thursday but told the Republican he wasn’t bribing people to vote for Hurst and gives cash to struggling people on the street “almost every day.”

But in written affidavits, city employees said many people who showed up to vote on Saturday had to register first and used a local homeless shelter for their address. Several inquired about $10 payments they said they were promised, the employees said.

“Most of the individuals in these groups seemed incoherent, confused, and some were intoxicated or under the influence,” City Clerk Gladys OyolaLopez, who also serves as Springfield’s elections commissioner, wrote in her affidavit.

She said she later reviewed security video taken from outside City Hall, which showed two men talking to each another through the open windows of SUVs. One of the men appeared to be Hurst.

Footage later shows Gregory “take out what appears to be a large bundle of cash and peel off a bill and hand it to” a group of people, she wrote. Some of the people then get into Hurst’s car, she said.

Hurst offered an explanation during his briefing Thursday.

“We dropped people off there to go and vote, and when they came out [after voting] ... we brought them home,” Hurst said. “We’ve been doing that the entire election. We do it all the time. And we will continue to do it . ... We don’t give money in exchange for votes. I don’t know how much clearer I can be.”

Springfield police Officer Kevin Sullivan who was working a shift at the City Hall polling station Saturday, said “a man put his ballot in the box and asked me, ‘where do I get my 10 dollars?’”

“I said to him, ‘you don’t get 10 dollars here.’ Later on, another man put his ballot in the box and said, ‘where do I get my 10 bucks?’” he wrote. “An Elections staff member said, ‘no one here is giving you anything.’ I overheard another person say to the man who made the comment, ‘you don’t say that.’”

Poll worker Lillian Lisojo said in her affidavit that she also heard people asking about the $10 and where on the ballot to vote for Hurst. Some left the rest of the ballot blank.

“I couldn’t believe that the people behind this were exploiting sad, vulnerable people who only came for the promise of money,” Lisojo wrote.

Elections assistant Daisy Lorenzana wrote in her affidavit that some of the people looking to cast ballots Saturday appeared to be uncertain why they were at City Hall. At one point, someone said in Spanish “vote for Hurst and you’ll get 10 dollars,” prompting one voter to reply, “you’re not supposed to say that out loud.”

“After seeing and hearing all of this, I have [a] bad feeling about it and am very disappointed,” Lorenzana wrote.

Election specialist Chelsea Parmentier said in her affidavit that she saw Gregory “hand money to a male who I had witnessed voting and was exiting City Hall. The man presented what appeared to be an ‘I Voted Early’ sticker right before he was handed the money.”

Oyola-Lopez said she contacted the Massachusetts secretary of state’s office about her concerns and a representative said they would contact the US attorney’s office.

No criminal charges have been filed in connection with the matter. A spokesperson for the office of Acting US Attorney Joshua S. Levy didn’t return a request for comment Thursday.

In a statement, Sarno said Oyola-Lopez had “reported suspicious activity during early voting to our office.”

“We immediately referred her to City Solicitor Judge John Payne. These allegations are very serious and upsetting to me.”

Sarno called voting a “sacred trust” that should be treated as such.