Harmar hires former Arnold Mayor Karen Peconi-Biricocchi

Harmar supervisors voted Friday morning to hire former Arnold Mayor Karen Peconi-Biricocchi to be the township’s acting manager.

The hiring was approved on a 3-2 vote, with Supervisors Bob Exler, Linda Exler and Lee Biermeyer voting in favor of the move and Supervisors Bob Seibert and Harry Lenhart opposing it. Exler said Peconi-Biricocchi will be paid $25 an hour.

Peconi-Biricocchi takes over for Anthony Rozzano, who resigned this week after discovering that his hiring violated township rules because he also serves as a Springdale Township commissioner. Rozzano was hired earlier this month to replace Ian Fitzgerald after his firing. Rozzano held the job for less than three weeks.

Peconi-Biricocchi will be in the position until a permanent replacement is found. She has been working in the Harmar office as a seasonal, part-time employee and told the Tribune-Review she would apply for the permanent job.

A motion to post the position was approved unanimously at Friday’s meeting.

Peconi-Biricocchi, who served as mayor of Arnold from 2016 until 2020, had a rocky term. She suggested through images she posted on social media that people protesting the police shooting of Antwon Rose should be sprayed with powerful water cannons. She was fined $10,000 by the state Ethics Commission in 2019 for violations of ethics laws during her time as a city official.

“I have been falsely accused of things,” she told the Tribune-Review on Thursday. “That doesn’t have anything to do with this. I’m putting Harmar first, and whatever benefits Harmar, that’s what we’re going to do.”

Bob Exler said he was not overly concerned about Peconi-Biricocchi’s past.

“She is a good fit, and she knows the job. You can tell this isn’t her first rodeo. You can tell she’s done this before,” Exler said.