HACKENSACK, N.J. — Caseen Gaines, the Zisa-backed Hackensack United for Progress ticket’s Campaign Manager, was quoted this morning by the Observer website in a story about the campaign for Mayor and Council in the city. This raises a disturbing question — did Caseen Gaines engage in political activity on taxpayer time? Gaines is employed as a teacher at Hackensack High School, where all school employees are required to clock in at 8:05am. The story he was quoted in was posted at 9:35am, which is during the regular school day, and his comments were in response to a Labrosse Team press release issued at 8:11am. These facts make it clear that Gaines is likely engaging in political activity during school hours, which is against state law and district policy, and they demand a response from the Zisa Team.

The Labrosse Team is calling for an independent investigation by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office into Caseen Gaines’ political activities during school time. Hackensack taxpayers should not be forced to pay for the Zisa Team’s Campaign Manager to work on their behalf, and Hackensack High School students deserve a full-time teacher, not a political operative.

“It appears that Caseen Gaines has been campaigning during school hours and this raises serious legal and ethical concerns about misuse of taxpayer time and resources, which has been a problem in Hackensack among the Zisa Team for years” said Mayor John Labrosse. “Asking the Zisa-controlled Board of Education and their attorney Richard Salkin to conduct an investigation into Gaines’ misuse of taxpayer resources would be pointless because Salkin has acted as a political operative for Zisa family interests for decades. We are calling on the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office to review this matter and determine the scope of this misuse of taxpayer resources.”

This would not be the first time the Zisa machine has been caught misusing school resources for campaign purposes — their ticket used an internal school directory to send out campaign letters to teachers during the 2013 municipal election. The Superintendent of Schools at the time was quoted by the Record saying “We have a clear policy, no campaigning and no politics on school premises” and the act attracted widespread criticism for the blatant misuse of school resources. The current School Board President Jason Nunnermacker, a Zisa ally, was a candidate on that slate and the Board Vice President Lara Rodriguez is on the current Zisa ticket. This history of Zisa candidates misusing school resources makes Gaines’ actions even more disturbing and demands an investigation.

The Labrosse Team is preparing a formal letter on these issues that will be sent to the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office and the State Attorney General’s Office.

About the Labrosse Team

Mayor Labrosse and his team of Deputy Mayor Canestrino, Councilman Leo Battaglia and Councilman David Sims won the 2013 municipal election, and since that time their leadership has resulted in the city’s downtown redevelopment and revitalization, adding nearly $1 billion in new real estate value to the city, and in Hackensack’s first tax rate cut in a decade. They announced their re-election campaign recently along with their running mate Council candidate Stephanie Von Rudenborg.