More on Pearce’s appointment of a convicted felon to Child Support Committee

by David Safier

I posted a few days ago about Pearce appointing Terry Decker, who was convicted of punching a teacher who tried to stop him from taking his children out of school (he was the non-custodial parent, and it wasn't his visitation day) to serve on the Child Support Committee.

In Pearce's defense, he didn't know about the conviction when he made the appointment. But when he found out about it, instead of admitting his mistake and canceling the appointment, he doubled down.

“I have every reason to believe Mr. Decker will be a strong voice for noncustodial parents and an excellent member of the Child Support Committee,” Pearce said in the statement.

The original story was in the Capitol Times, which is subscription only. Since then, KPHO news in Phoenix has picked it up and gotten yet more doubling down from Pearce.

"With an exemplary background in children's rights issues and extensive experience and knowledge in child support cases, he (Decker) seemed like a good fit."

"I believe that if a conviction in a candidate's background is an automatic disqualifier, we would have even more difficulty finding qualified men and women."

Pearce has created yet another of his straw men. No one has ever said "a conviction in a candidate's background is an automatic disqualifier." But not all convictions are created equal. A man who was convicted for punching out a teacher, and also for aggravated assault "for firing shots at the passing car of his newspaper deliveryman as he threw the Wall Street Journal on his driveway," may not have the kind of stability or judgment you want in someone in a position to make recommendations about child support policies.

(Decker's ex-wife once "reported to Scottsdale police that he opened the door to his home holding a handgun, but not pointing it at her," but Decker claims that was a lie.)

Oh, and I should add Decker is currently unemployed and receiving disability checks from Social Security because of mental health issues.

This is the man Pearce appoints to the Child Support Committee. I don't know, maybe Pearce has a soft spot for people, like himself, who have tempers and are prone to violence.