Bergen Community College head says public relations deal had nothing to do with union talks

By John C. Ensslin, Staff Writer, The Record.

The president of Bergen Community College said Tuesday that the decision to hire a public relations firm this month had nothing to do with upcoming contract negotiations, contradicting statements made by the chairman of the college board last week.

Instead, President B. Kay Walter said The Marcus Group of Little Falls was tapped on a short-term basis, at $7,500 a month, only to handle an issue that she would not discuss publicly because it could be the subject of litigation. She said the firm has already helped prepare a strategy to deal with the problem.

“As soon as we have rectified the internal matter, we will share it with the freeholders,” she said at a county budget hearing. “It’s something that has been going on since 2006. It’s very complicated and it’s subject to litigation.”

E. Carter Corriston, the chairman of the board of trustees, said last week that the contract — which provided for up to a year of service — involved advising the trustees on labor negotiations. Alan C. Marcus, the owner of the firm who served as campaign manager for County Executive Kathleen Donovan in 2010 and steered her transition team, said the trustees told him they wanted his advice on the union talks.

More>>