Hoboken Mayor David Roberts and Business Administrator Robert Drasheff announced Wednesday that Business Administrator Laurie Cotter, who was set to leave the city this month, will remain in the city’s employ. She will be hired on as acting Director of Finance replacing Katia "Kathy" Stack, who according to Drasheff, will be leaving her position to take a job in Union City.
"[Stack] will be leaving the city in early September," said Drasheff Wednesday. "[Cotter] will replace her as the acting finance supervisor until it’s time for [Cotter] to leave for another position."
There apparently was some dispute within City Hall about the announcement, however. Katia Stack, contacted Thursday afternoon, did not want to confirm that she was leaving, saying Drasheff’s announcement was "premature."
Stack, who has a master’s in administration and supervision in education, is reportedly taking a job with the Union City Day Care program. The Day Care board is expected to vote on Stack’s position this week. Stack is married to Union City Mayor Brian Stack.
Cotter was appointed to the position of business administrator shortly after Roberts took office as mayor in July 2001.
Cotter has 15 years of municipal finance and administration experience. Before coming to Hoboken, she served as the business administrator and the budget director in Jersey City, where she worked for seven years. Starting in 1994, she was appointed to the post of assistant business administrator and budget director, and in March of 2000 she was promoted to business administrator.
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.
Drasheff did not say what Cotter’s new salary would be but did say that would be less than what she was making as business administrator. Drasheff added that she will return after she uses up all of her accumulated vacation time. According to him, she had more than 20 days saved up.
Much discussion
Over the last month, there has been much discussion about whether Cotter was forced out or if she was leaving on her own. After serving slightly over a year as Hoboken’s business administrator, Cotter was replaced by the city’s former human services director, Drasheff. Several publications, including this one, reported that the city was negotiating a package with the city that was rumored to include up to three months severance pay.
Roberts put his foot down Wednesday and said that there is not and never was any talk of giving Cotter a severance package. He added that rumors of a golden parachute were leaked by political agitators who benefit from making his administration look bad. "Many of the rumors and stories surrounding the Laurie Cotter situation are not grounded in fact," said Roberts. "At absolutely no point was a golden parachute ever discussed."
Stack’s departure
Drasheff had nothing but kind words for the reportedly outgoing Stack. He called her a "brilliant person" who has always performed with "professionalism and competence." He added, "You only have one hometown. And that is where you want to work."
The only problem with Drasheff’s announcement is that Stack wasn’t ready to make anything official quite yet. On Thursday, Stack said, "I have gone on an interview that went well and I’m very interested in the job but as of right now I haven’t been hired."
She added that she has not handed in her official letter of resignation did not plan on doing so until at least next week and that is only if she is hired for the job.
"This is a case of the cart pulling the horse," said Stack.
Stack concluded by saying that the mayor and Drasheff may have jumped to conclusions about her intentions. "I told them I went on an interview. I told them it went well, but that’s it," she said.
One anonymous political pundit said Thursday night that announcing Stack’s leaving and Cotter’s return at the same time is an excellent way for Roberts save face about Cotter’s near-departure.
"In one fell swoop they get to dispel the all golden parachute rumors and gloss over the fact that another high level employee is leaving the administration," the source said. "They just should have told everyone involved first."
A little overlap
Drasheff said that there might be up to two weeks of overlap between when Cotter returns and Stack’s departure. He said that both will be collecting a salary, but having two highly trained financial experts on staff, even for a short while, has benefits. The city’s budget is due next month.
Drasheff said that Stack and Cotter will be working on "special state aid applications."
"The value of these two weeks may be worth four or five million in additional state aid," he said.