OGDENSBURG, New York (WWNY) – After a former Ogdensburg fire captain took the first step in filing a defamation lawsuit against the city of Ogdensburg, and its mayor and outgoing city manager, we hear from the parties involved.
“What motivated me to do this is pretty much to hold the city manager and mayor responsible for what they did,” said Gerald Mack.
Mack plans to sue Mayor Mike Skelly, City Manager Stephen Jellie and the city.
According to paperwork filed in State Supreme Court, Mack claims they defamed him. A year ago, Mack was accused of stalking Skelly at his home and slashing the tires of skelly’s Corvette.
The two had been on opposite sides of a bitter debate about cutting the size of Ogdensburg’s fire department.
In one of our stories from November of last year, Jellie claimed Mack had multiple episodes of unruly behavior that culminated into a serious act of vandalism and stalking.
According to Mack’s complaint, that statement, along with others made by Jellie and Skelly are untrue and have caused Mack economic damage.
In May, all charges against Mack were dropped after video evidence surfaced showing Mack was at a nearby Stewart’s Shop at the time of the tire slashing.
Jellie claims posts on Facebook by Mack and past incidents at city hall have shown the unruly behavior he was referring to.
Mack says those things are only being brought up because Jellie is upset he has been named in a potential lawsuit.
“We find this recent complaint by him nothing more than a continuation of Gerry Mack looking out for Gerry Mack, and wanting to have attention,” said Jellie.
Mayor Skelly said he was unable to comment due to other legal issues. He still faces a charge of falsifying a police report after the video evidence was found clearing Mack of slashing Skelly’s tires.
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