In an intense behind-the-scenes battle for control of the City Council, Mayor Mark Smith secured a voting majority to pick town Postmaster Terrence Ruane for a council seat at the May 6 meeting. Smith himself cast the deciding vote.
Backed by attorney Herb Klitzner of Chasan Leyner & Lamparello, a powerful political firm connected to state Sen. Nicholas Sacco, Mayor Smith threatened to bring the City Council to court if it failed to allow him to cast the deciding vote in favor of Ruane.
This was the third time in two weeks that the council met to consider filling the vacancy left by the resignation of Anthony Chiappone on April 9.
Under state law, the council had to name a replacement within 30 days or leave the seat vacant until voters could decide.
City Council members were apparently divided over who would replace Chiappone, and they agreed on April 29 to leave the seat vacant. However, a behind-the-scenes lobbying effort had been made on Ruane’s behalf.
Mayor Smith then called a special meeting for May 6, at which time Kliztner – whose firm is expected to get significant city business over the next year – argued that the mayor should be allowed to vote as a tie breaker since two councilmen, John Halecky and Ted Connolly, agreed to support Ruane.
Legal eagles in City Hall spent a good portion of the week scratching their heads and thumbing through legal books, seeking to make their cases in a power clash between Mayor Mark Smith and two members of the City Council.
Failure to nominate any candidates at the regularly scheduled April 29 City Council meeting had left many presuming that voters would get to decide next November who will fill the seat left vacant by the April 9 resignation of Anthony Chiappone.
But Mayor Smith called a last-minute special meeting for May 6 seeking to fill the post, even though early indications suggested that he could only count on two of the four remaining council members.
Under state law, in the case of a tie, the mayor is allowed to cast the deciding vote.
Behind the scenes
Behind the scenes, Smith has been lobbying hard to name Postmaster Terrence Ruane. Councilmen Ted Connolly and John Halecky nominated and voted for Ruane, leaving Council President Vincent Lo Re and Councilman Gary La Pelusa opposed.
Councilman Gary La Pelusa Sr. voted for John Budnik, a member of the city’s environmental commission.
“It is my belief, my contention, that we have a new city councilman and his name is Terrence Ruane.” – Mayor Mark Smith
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At that point, the vote stood two votes for Ruane and one each for Budnik and Urban.
Had this been a straight up and down vote, Ruane would have been seated since Smith came to the special meeting and cast his vote for Ruane. But council legal staff – including Law Department Director Jay Coffey and City Clerk Robert Sloan – said the appointment required three City Council votes, not two, and that the mayor is only allowed to vote in the event of a tie.
Lo Re called for a vote that would have each councilman name the person they supported so that the vote was not for or against Ruane, and does not constitute a tie.
Klitzner argued that the vote was not properly conducted, but Sloan – following the dictates of Lo Re and Robert’s Rules of Order – refused to call for a new vote and did not recognize Smith’s vote.
Smith threatened to bring the matter to court.
“It is my belief, my contention, that we have a new city councilman and his name is Terrence Ruane,” said Smith. “The mayor has a right to break a tie, and Ruane is on the council by a 3-1-1 vote.”
Coffey changes his position
Coffey recanted his opinion the following day, and issued a memo to City Council members.
“Following up on our earlier conversation, at last night’s meeting, two distinct issues arose. The first was whether or not the ‘roll call’ type vote employed by Mr. Sloan was proper parliamentary procedure. My research leads me to the conclusion that it was proper,” Coffey wrote. “The second issue is whether or not the council should have been permitted to vote on each nominee individually in an ‘up and down’ fashion. My research leads me to the conclusion that the council most certainly should have been permitted to conduct an ‘up and down’ vote on each of the nominees. In the event that there is a tie on an up and down vote, moreover, the mayor has the statutory right to vote in order to break the tie.”
Coffey added that a court challenge to Sloan’s decision would end up in Smith’s favor.
The lack of a deciding vote could have left the seat vacant, and the measure to force the vote left some to question as to why the mayor needed to fill the seat so rapidly, and why the mayor had to be represented by Klitzner, who – as the town attorney for North Bergen – is also a close associate of state Sen. and North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco.
With a possible controversial agenda set for budget cutting over the next year – such as changes to the fire department, employee furloughs and other budget-cutting measures – Smith might have been required to vote frequently to break a divided vote, in a year leading up to next May’s mayoral election. Ruane could become the deciding vote instead.
Ruane’s vote will also be critical in deciding who will replace Chiappone as a member of the Bayonne Local Redevelopment Authority.
On May 9, the last possible day, Smith cast the deciding vote, naming Ruane as councilman until a November special election. He said he believed his original vote was valid. In order to avoid litigation, Lo Re and La Pelusa voted to elect Ruane.
An ironic twist
The last vacancy on the City Council occurred in 1965 after William Martin died in office as a result of a heart attack.
The council tied over a replacement, forcing then Mayor James Fitzpatrick to cast the deciding vote.
Ironically in 1962, Martin beat Neil Carol for the seat. Carol, who is Mayor Smith’s father-in-law, is reportedly one of the architects of the current move to get Ruane named to the council.
Also ironically, Ruane – who said he would seek the seat again in a special election in November – may have to face Martin’s relative, Jack Butchko, who said this week he might challenge Ruane for the seat.