HACKENSACK SCHOOL ATTORNEY BILLS INCREASE BY 50% 

CANDIDATES CALL FOR STATE INVESTIGATION AND REFUND OF OVERBILLING

A Hackensack Board of Education attorney with close ties to Jack and Ken Zisa has raised his authorized compensation from $95,000 two years ago to at least $144,000 for the current school year.

School Attorney Richard Salkin was already under fire for over-billing the school district on two occasions last year by over $13,000 and for working without a written contract in violation of state law. Last year, Salkin served as the campaign attorney for an unsuccessful City Council ticket backed by the Zisa family.

“Richard Salkin’s compensation has increased by over 50% for essentially the same job he was doing two years ago,” said Lance Powell, a candidate in the Board of Education election next Tuesday who is running with Frances Cogelja and Carlos Velez on the “Putting Our Kids First” slate. “Because he has no written contract that describes his scope of services, the public can’t determine whether this huge pay hike is somehow justifiable, or if it is a political reward for his loyal service to the Zisa political machine.”

Carlos Velez produced copies of school purchase orders authorizing Salkin to bill $118,000 for the 2016/2017 school year and invoices and canceled checks proving that he actually billed $131,709. “He had no legal right to do that without authorization from the Board,” said Velez. “We demand that he return this money to the taxpayers and we are calling on the State Department of Education to intervene and investigate.”

“Salkin is working without a contract in violation of state law, over-billing and essentially giving himself a 50% pay increase because he has enormous influence over this Board of Education,” said Cogelja, a former local PTA President. “Salkin and Board President Janson Nunnermacker really represent the interests of the Zisa family, not the children or taxpayers of Hackensack.”