After serving slightly over a year as Hoboken’s business administrator, Laurie Cotter will be replaced in the near future, Mayor David Roberts confirmed last week.Roberts wants to replace her with Robert Drasheff, who served as director of Hoboken’s Department of Human Services under Mayor Anthony Russo, and who had served in many other government positions in the past. After Mayor Roberts took office last summer, he terminated Drasheff along with Russo’s other directors, following a mandate for change in government.
Drasheff now has a full-time job as human services director in Weehawken.
Roberts confirmed both aspects last week of rumors that had been circulating regarding the switch.
But he denied rumors that Cotter had been pushed out of her position to make way for Drasheff. Instead, he said that a proposed offer of employment on the county level for Cotter had spurred the transition.
"It is my understanding that Laurie is going to be offered a position with the new Tom DeGise administration," Roberts said. "This is understandable since she is a resident of Jersey City and already has a working relationship with him." DeGise, formerly the Jersey City council president, is the Democratic candidate for in the November county executive race. Should he win, which is likely in largely-Democratic Hudson County, he would take office in January 2003. DeGise did not return phone calls last week before press time.
Cotter said, during a telephone interview Thursday, "I’m exploring a number of opportunities, but at this moment I’m not committed to anything."
Although her resignation is effective Aug. 1, she will be using accumulated vacation time and will probably leave by mid-July.
"I’ll leave the city in the best shape possible before I leave," she said, "and I will be available for any transition assistance."
Cotter called her term in Hoboken "a true pleasure."
Cotter was appointed to the position of business administrator shortly after Roberts took office as mayor in July 2001.
Before joining Jersey City, Cotter spent eight years with the Local Government Services Division at the New Jersey State Department of Community Affairs (DCA) starting in 1986. In 1990, she was promoted to become the administrator of the Distressed Cities Program, a program that finds state funds for finically struggling urban areas. She was then promoted to the position of special assistant to the director of the Local Government Services Division of the DCA in1991.
Although Roberts said Cotter would likely entertain an offer from DeGise for a county position, rumors also claim she could find her way back to the DCA thanks to her benefactor and friend, Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner – who is the governor’s appointment to that body. Turner was responsible for bringing Cotter’s name to the attention of Robert’s transition team in 2001.
Mayor Turner could not be reached for comment last week, as he was away on vacation.
Most qualified
Cotter’s appointment sparked some debate at the time over whether or not Hoboken was required to hire a resident of Hoboken for the post. The residency policy states that every city employee must either live in Hoboken or move here within the first six months of being employed by the city. However, for positions requiring special expertise, someone from outside of town can be hired. The business administrator is the chief architect of the city’s budget.
Roberts made a campaign pledge last year to search for and hire the most qualified candidates.
Cotter is a resident of Jersey City and received a waiver for the City Council to work in Hoboken.
"I think the City of Hoboken was well served by director Cotter," Roberts said. "With Laurie in county government, she [will be] only a phone call away if we need her."
Drasheff has been here before
Before being removed as Human Service Director in Hoboken in 2001, Drasheff, 49, had worked for the city over 23 years. In 1984 he was appointed as director of the city’s Health and Welfare Department. He has also served as a Hudson County Freeholder and as the assistant city clerk in Hoboken. Drasheff currently serves as director of Human Services in Weehawken.
Although seen by some as a supporter for former Mayor Anthony Russo, Drasheff had served under three administrations in Hoboken, and in fact, opposed Russo in favor of Ira Karasick in the 1993 mayoral election.
Critics, such as Councilman Tony Soares, spoke up about the appointment last week during telephone interviews, saying that this appointment showed a pattern of hiring inconsistent with promises made when Roberts was first elected.
"Mayor Roberts said he was going to bring new blood into City Hall," Soares said. "Robert Drasheff isn’t new blood."
Roberts countered this by saying that he was committed to finding the best people possible for his administration.
"I am looking for the best qualified people for every position," he said. "I want this government to include women, newcomers, and Latinos, but I’m not setting up an litmus test. It doesn’t matter if a person is a newcomer or lived his or her whole life in Hoboken. I think we have to hire those who will do the job best."
Roberts said he believed Drasheff meets this standard.
"Robert Drasheff is good for the city of Hoboken," Roberts said. "He has proven himself. He is currently working in Weehawken, but has won the respect of people wherever he has worked."
Roberts deflected criticism that Drasheff doesn’t have the needed experience for position of business administrator, saying that Drasheff has a wide range of experience in government.
"He also lives, eats, drinks and breathes Hoboken. He walks around in Hoboken," Roberts said. "He is here seven days a week, 24 hours a day. And it is Hoboken’s well being he is thinking about all the time. He is a very dedicated professional.”
Roberts said Drasheff has knowledge of many key projects upcoming in the city, from the proposed Academy Bus consolidation and the development of open space to the final development on Parcel B and finishing the new Master Plan.
Roberts also said that Drasheff’s credentials were considered as any other applicant’s would be.
"Bob was part of the first search process when we chose Laurie for the position," Roberts said.
Old pool
Councilman Soares – who had had recent conflicts with Roberts over other issues – disagreed.
"You can’t find new people by going to the same old pool," Soares said. "Maybe the mayor will get the best and brightest, but we need to look everywhere to find those people. I think the mayor feels more comfortable with the old administration in which people take direction from the top, rather than a more progressive government that allows people to use their own expertise."
In a Sept. 9, 2001 article in the Weehawken Reporter about Drasheff accepting a job in that town, Drasheff told the newspaper, “Dave Roberts felt that the electoral mandate he enjoyed facilitated a change in every department. I understood that he wanted to change the face of the entire government in Hoboken. We parted as friends and we remain friends. He had the mandate of the people and used his best judgment.”