HACKENSACK, N.J. — After the Labrosse Team exposed the disturbing likelihood that Hackensack United for Progress Campaign Manager Caseen Gaines had engaged in political work on taxpayer time last week, Gaines issued a news release in response that contains an obvious lie and no justification for this behavior. Gaines, a teacher at Hackensack High School and a longtime ally of the Zisa machine, sent out a political press release at 9:14 a.m. on Thursday, March 9, a day he was scheduled to be working as a teacher. That time frame has now been confirmed by a news story on the Observer website. In his response, Gaines claimed that the press release in question ” … was drafted last night [Wednesday] after their campaign received a copy of the Labrosse/Canestrino Team’s press release that dropped today [Thursday].” This is a lie — the Labrosse Team press release that Gaines claims to have received was not disseminated until 8:11 a.m. Thursday morning, making it impossible for him to have drafted the response on Wednesday night.

“Caseen Gaines’ claim that he had our press release before it went out is simply not credible,” said Labrosse Team spokesman Philip Swibinski. “Hackensack High School students are being cheated by this political operative playing politics when he is being paid to teach. Is this why school spending is up by $5 million — over 7% in just one year — in the new school budget?”

This is not the only time Gaines and the Zisa Team have been caught in a lie. Disgraced former Police Chief Ken Zisa recently told a reporter that he was not involved with the HUP campaign, only to be photographed attending their Campaign Kickoff Event the very next night. Gaines himself told the same reporter that he was “unsure” of Ken Zisa’s involvement, another obvious falsehood. Now Gaines has been caught in another lie, claiming that he had a Labrosse Team press release before it was ever sent out, further damaging his already shaky credibility.

Mayor John Labrosse sent letters to the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office, Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office and the Hackensack interim Superintendent of Schools on Friday outlining the allegations against Gaines and calling for an investigation into the scope of this misuse of taxpayer resources. The Labrosse Team has also filed an Open Public Records Request with the Hackensack Board of Education seeking Gaines’ class schedule and a record of his entry and exit card swipes in and out of the building over the last 30 days.

The Zisa machine has been caught misusing school resources for campaign purposes before — 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.

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.