HOBOKEN — Mayor Dawn Zimmer hired the new face of City Hall today, less than a week after axing a spokesperson who worked under the previous administration. Juan Melli was brought in by Zimmer today following the firing of Paul Drexel last Friday. Drexel, a former city spokesperson under Mayor David Roberts, was a provisional employee (not civil service protected). and thus, the city did not need a reason to lay him off, a city official confirmed.
Melli was the director of new media for former Gov. Jon Corzine and an associate editor at Politcker.com. He holds a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Princeton and runs a small communications company.
Two or three months ago, Melli was given a$15,000 city contract to handle “new media,” like the city’s Twitter account, according to Daniel Bryan, the mayor’s confidential aide.
Melli has also reorganized and provided content for the city website and developed a map that tracks the location of the crosstown shuttle over the past few months.
Now he will join public relations officer Bill Campbell.
With top city officials awaiting word in Trenton on whether or not the city can move out from state financial supervision, no one was available to confirm Melli’s new salary with the city. — TJC