To the victor go the spoils, and while new Mayor David Roberts has won the election war, he is now faced with the monumental task of making job appointments that satisfy the supporters who helped him achieve his triumph.
While Roberts’ transition team officials have been pledging to hire the best-qualified people for top posts like the directorships of public works, finances and development, there has been some grumbling within the camp.
One of the biggest internal battles within Roberts’ Hoboken United team has been over who will be the temporary replacement for newly elected at-large councilman Ruben Ramos, who moves from a slot representing the 4th Ward to a spot representing the entire town. The 4th Ward is the section of town where the majority of Hoboken’s affordable housing is located.
In addition to Ramos’ unoccupied 4th Ward seat, there will be second vacant seat when 6th Ward Councilman Roberts is sworn in as mayor. Immediately after the inauguration today (Sunday, July 1), the seven remaining members of the council will meet in City Hall for a brief reorganization meeting during which the council will nominate and vote on who the temporary replacements will be. Each replacement must be approved by a majority of the council. These posts are not permanent and will be up for election in November.
Officially, Hoboken United is keeping a tight lip about who they are going to nominate for the 4th Ward seat, but inside sources say that Christopher Campos is the frontrunner. The 25-year-old recent graduate from American University Law School has returned to Hoboken. But a few Roberts supporters who had been hoping for a different appointee have been alleging that Campos himself has not lived in town long enough, or that he has been using a relative’s address. Municipal law requires all City Council candidates to live in their ward for at least one year before being considered.
According to the office of the Hudson County Supervisor of Elections, Campos has not voted in previous Hoboken elections and only registered to vote in Hoboken in May of 2001. Efforts were made to reach Campos, but he was not available for comment.
Councilman Tony Soares, a Campos supporter, stopped short last week of saying that it was definite that Campos would be nominated today, but did say that questions about Campos’ residency are unfounded.
“I just dropped him off at his house yesterday,” said Soares Thursday. “He is a resident of Hoboken and helped campaign with me in ’99. He is a great role model and he would be a great asset to Hoboken in whatever capacity he might serve.”
Soares also pointed to a letter that Campos sent to and printed in the Reporter in October of 1999 as proof that he was living in the mile-square city.
“This weekend [October 1999] I returned home to visit my ailing grandmother in St. Mary Hospital along with several other friends and relatives,” said Campos in his letter to the editor. “Due to the rigors of law school, I unfortunately do not have the opportunity to return often enough to be familiar with the particularities of Hoboken politics.”
But there are some who do not believe that Campos has in fact lived here for the past year.
“Everyone who lives down at the Housing Authority knows who does and does not reside in the Housing Authority,” said outgoing Council President Nellie Moyeno, who has already announced that she will be running for that seat in November. “And he does not reside in the 4th Ward.”
Another person who was rumored throughout the campaign to be a candidate for that empty seat was Housing Authority resident and community activist Lynda Walker. Some of those who have been complaining about Campos are Walker supporters who want her to get the seat instead. Walker declined last week to comment, and would only say that she still hopes that she can have an important role in the Roberts administration.
Any council person can nominate someone to fill that seat today.
Mum on some directorships
In the nearly two months since Roberts has been elected, he has made several key additions to his mayoral team. One of his first moves was to bring in the “big five” accounting firm Ernst & Young to conduct an overview of the financial records of each city agency that is within the jurisdiction of the office of the mayor.
David Milkowski, a Hoboken resident and partner at Ernest & Young, will be volunteering his time and the company’s resources to conduct the review of the city’s records and finances.
Over the last three years, Roberts has been a stern critic of Mayor Anthony Russo’s budgets. He won the May 8 election in part by crusading to curb spending and low taxes. On several occasions he has lobbied for a state audit of the city’s finances. Now that he is the administration, he will have the ability to conduct the full review of city financial records that he has asked for over the last couple of years.
The second major decision made by the Roberts camp was to hire Esther Suarez, 30, to be corporation council for the city of Hoboken. In this role, Suarez will act as the city’s top attorney and legal advisor to the mayor and city council.
As a Hoboken resident, Suarez practices municipal law and labor and employment law at the Secaucus firm of Scarinci & Hollenbeck, which is headed by Hudson County political power broker Donald Scarinci. Suarez has some experience working with the city on issues, most notably as the lead attorney for the lawsuit in which the outgoing administration was ordered to return inappropriate longevity payments to the city’s coffers.
Two weeks ago, Roberts tabbed Jersey City Business Administrator Laurie Cotter as Hoboken’s new business administrator. Cotter, a Jersey City resident, replaces George Crimmins Jr. as Hoboken’s top financial officer. While these positions have been filled, there are other important positions that have yet to be officially announced.
Roberts transition team officials continued to keep mum last week about who will fill the positions of director of environmental services and director of human services. However, sources said that duties of the latter position will be divided between county planner Fred Bado and private bank official Carmelo Garcia. Garcia does not have experience in municipal government or development, but was a strong supporter of the Roberts team. He also has served as the chief of staff to Freeholder Maurice Fitzgibbons, a Roberts supporter, and has been a spokesman for the tenants’ association of Applied Housing, the city’s largest private development company. Roberts spokesman Michael Estevez said that Hoboken United has proceeded with an intense searching and interviewing process and will find the best qualified candidates.
Garcia referred all questions about his possible appointment to Estevez, who declined to comment as to what specifics Hoboken United was going to use in making selections. He would only say that the most qualified candidates would be chosen, and revealed later today.
Sources have also said that Roberts Campaign Manager Michael Lenz may be tapped for a position in the Hoboken Parking Authority. Lenz has served as a vice president at a commercial real estate firm in Central Jersey.