Carolyn McKnight Exclusive Interview

CEIDC Executive Secretary Breaks Silence

By Greg Ritchie

Messenger Reporter

CROCKETT – I have been able to speak, occasionally, over the past year-and-a-half with Crockett Economic and Industrial Development Corporation (CEIDC) Executive Assistant Carolyn McKnight. It began innocently, with McKnight writing me to comment on something in one of my stories. Being interested in the goings-on at CEIDC, I offered to do an interview with her, which she politely declined.

I tried to keep in contact with her from time to time, wishing her luck during her long stint on paid administrative leave, or her checking on me during my recent health escapades. She was always nice and friendly, a God-fearing woman, she would often cite the Bible to give herself or me encouragement. 

In spite of being accused of being on one side or the other, I try to be friendly with everyone. I try to listen and understand them and McKnight has had tough shoes to fill. Worried about irregularities at CEIDC, it was made clear to her she was no longer trusted, or even welcome. She has received nasty phone calls, nasty comments – and even suffered the humiliation of sitting on the sidelines, while CEIDC Executive Director James Gentry got his position back last spring.

In all that time, she has never revealed any information to me, nothing about scandals or anything else. She was stuck at home, feeling sad about being shunned from work and so was I, trapped in a wheelchair. We connected on a human level, trying to cheer each other up and understand what the world around us was up to, while we watched from home.

I never pressured her to speak on the record, but always told her I would be happy to tell her story, if the time ever came. She decided a few weeks ago it was time. I asked her several times if she was sure she wanted to come forward.

Without even knowing what she might or might not say, I knew she would face even more backlash if she spoke to that well-known evil-doer Greg Ritchie. Something had changed in her, something had pushed her to follow her heart and tell the truth. As a religious person, McKnight would no doubt say it was God and I could certainly agree with that.

First of all, McKnight has been maligned by both sides. She is a traitor to some, even certain city council members stalled in bringing her back on the job, then tried to transfer her out to the water department to get rid of her. Gentry said in a recent meeting he didn’t think KcKnight was up to doing the job of organizing the CEIDC filing cabinets, which led him to hire a new office manager at $72,000 a year. One city council member was overheard calling McKnight a “snitch.” 

This has all been devastating to McKnight, who believes from the depths of her soul in the good work CEIDC can do. As a member of the African American community, she knows only too well the lack of hope and opportunity they face – something which new jobs would go a long way to alleviate. 

Before we sat down to record our interview, she prayed for both of us. She asked God to make her modest and make her answers about truth and nothing more. She asked Him to give me wisdom to ask the right questions and that we should do this without malice and not in order to harm anyone.

I believe we lived up to that prayer. McKnight spoke openly and honestly with me for half an hour, confirming many of the details from CEIDC’s forensic audit, but without making any specific allegations of her own.

She was more specific in emails she sent to city officials, which The Messenger was able to obtain. There, she alleges misuse of credit cards, company vehicles, and how she was treated by some of CEIDC’s board members. These are serious allegations, and the ones about others using government property could have legal repercussions. 

The interview is available below and on The Messenger’s Facebook® page. I will give no quotes or spoilers here. I encourage you to watch it and see for yourself. If you support CEIDC, you will see a woman trying to do her best for her community and the city she loves. You will see how she feels mistreated by the people she once loved, trusted and admired.

If you oppose CEIDC, you will find a human voice to confirm many of the irregularities found in the cold pages of the forensic audit. You will hear from someone inside CEIDC, baffled at times at the attitude and cavalier approach to performing their functions.

Either way, McKnight is not someone on one side or the other. She is more like an innocent victim, stuck in no-man’s land, hoping to keep inching the dream of economic development in the city a little further.

We thank her for her courage and willingness to have no fear in the pursuit of truth. We pray she will find peace and play a part in the bright future we believe is in store for Crockett. And we will have our eyes on her, and be weary of any attempts at official or unofficial punishment or ill treatment of her for coming forward. 

Greg Ritchie can be reached at [email protected]

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