Hackensack mayor calls bribery suit 'ridiculous'

HACKENSACK - The City Council and its newly hired public relations firm face a lawsuit alleging that free services provided the week before a contract was signed could constitute bribery, a claim that the mayor rejected as a "ridiculous" political stunt.

The suit, filed by school board attorney Richard Salkin - a frequent critic of the municipal government - contends that Vision Media Marketing of Secaucus provided its services free of charge to Mayor John Labrosse and Deputy Mayor Kathleen Canestrino on June 9, when they announced that they were changing their party affiliation from Republican to independent in protest of what they called racist remarks by Donald Trump, who then still was seeking the GOP nomination for president.

Five days later, the council unanimously approved a resolution designating Vision Media as the city's public relations consultant at a rate of $3,000 per month.

Salkin argued in his lawsuit that the hiring of the firm after it provided free services could be considered an ethical or criminal violation. He is petitioning the court to nullify the Vision Media contract.

Read more: http://www.northjersey.com/news/crime-and-courts/hackensack-mayor-calls-bribery-suit-ridiculous-1.1646289