The Mechanicville city council has agreed to hire outside legal counsel to conduct an independent investigation into a complaint filed by the police benevolent association against the mayor.

Mayor Dennis Baker says these allegations are not true. He believes he will be vindicated once the investigation is complete.

"I would say that this is characterized as a personal attack," said Baker's attorney, James Walsh.

Walsh says Baker has done nothing wrong while in office as the city's top official.

The PBA filed the complaint last month with the city clerk. Spectrum News submitted a FOIL request for that complaint, but the city denied the request, citing "unwarranted invasion of personal privacy" as the reason.

According to the Albany Times Union, the complaint accuses the mayor of intimidation, harassment and abuse toward city police officers.

"This is the police not liking certain things, and it should've been handled amongst their labor lawyer," Walsh said.

On Thursday night, the city council voted to hire Robert Hite to conduct an independent investigation into the complaint. The special meeting lasted about two minutes with no public comment, which angered some residents.

"This is a disgrace. My friends are laughing," said resident Nick Rinaldi. "They say 'what's going on in Mechanicville?' We're a laughing stock.

"They should try to work [it] out among themselves, and if they can't, then go to a lawyer. They went to a lawyer without trying to work it out."

Walsh says the PBA filed the complaint because of a contract grievance. He also added the mayor welcomes the independent investigation and believes he will be vindicated once it's complete.

Right now, there's no word on how long this investigation will take or how much it will cost the city.