There been several major changes at the top of Mayor David Roberts’ administration. At Wednesday night’s annual City Council reorganization meeting, the nine-member elected board voted in a new council president and vice-president as well as hiring an old hand as the city’s business administrator.
As expected and with full support of the council, Council Vice-President Ruben Ramos Jr. and 3rd Ward Councilman Roseanne Andreula were unanimously voted to become the body’s new president and vice-president respectively. Ramos replaces Tony Soares as the council’s president. In a written statement, Soares said that he supported the selection of Ramos.
"Ruben’s hard work, dedication, congeniality and independent thinking will be a real asset to the City Council and the city of Hoboken during these turbulent times," said Soares.
Political insiders see Soares’ stepping aside as the beginning of his run toward bigger political aspirations. Soares denied this.
Ramos said Wednesday that he is honored to become the council’s next president. "I’m very grateful," said Ramos. "I’m confident that the next year is going to be a very productive one." He added that areas that he would like to focus on are affordable housing and open space.
Mayor Roberts also had kind words for Ramos. "We’re going to need his sense of bridge-building and consensus building," said Roberts Wednesday.
Also as expected, the city’s former director of human services, Robert Drasheff, was tapped to become the city’s business administrator, handling the city budget. At $105,000, the business administrator is the city’s highest paid employee. Drasheff replaces Laurie Cotter, who held the post for almost exactly one year.
Before being removed as Human Services Director in 2001 by Roberts, Drasheff, 49, had worked for the city for 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. He is currently working as director of Human Services in Weehawken (see www.WeehawkenReporter.com this week for a story on Drasheff’s leaving that position). He is scheduled to begin his employment in Hoboken on August 1.
"Robert Drasheff is a talented individual who has served the citizens of Hoboken for nearly 25 years in various capacities of local government," said Roberts Thursday. "His management and budgetary experience, both in Hoboken and as a freeholder, where he chaired the board’s budget committee, make him a valuable asset to my team."
The resolution to hire Drasheff passed by a vote of 8-0-1 with only Councilwoman Carol Marsh abstaining.
Marsh extended her thanks to Cotter for her dedication in her year of service and said that she brought and "enormous amount of experience to the job," especially when it comes to budgetary issues. She questioned Drasheff’s experience when it comes to controlling a $54 million budget.
Other council members had words of praise for the long time Hoboken resident. "[Drasheff] is a very responsible and very professional," said Councilwoman Theresa Castellano. "We need someone with experience and their feet planted firmly on the ground."
"[Drasheff] is the foremost expert in this city when it comes to waterfront development," said 2nd Ward Councilman Richard Del Boccio.
Drasheff agreed with Marsh that Cotter did a good job when it came to creating last year’s budget. "She did a tremendous job in developing a budget with no tax increase," he said. He added that he does have the experience to handle a large budget. He pointed to his work as the chairman of the county’s budgetary committee. As the chairman he helped manage the county’s $250 million budget. "I would like to assure you that that I will focus of the fiscal side first," he said.
Drasheff added that he foresees many challenges in the coming year. Specifically, he said the city is due for a 19 percent increase in health insurance costs for city workers. Last year Hoboken paid approximately $7.1 million in insurance. According to Drasheff, that number is expected to rise dramatically next year.
"We have to find new sources of revenue without overburdening development [in the city]," he said.
Controversy over the hiring
Several residents spoke out against the hiring.
"He is familiar and comfortable, but that does not make him right for the job," said community activist Elizabeth Markevitch. She questioned Drasheff’s experience when it comes to formulating a budget.
Daniel Tumpson questioned the process by which Drasheff was selected. He asked if the job was advertised or if anyone else was interviewed. Last year, Roberts ran on a platform saying that jobs would be posted and the most qualified people would be selected.
"The mayor did not interview anyone else, nor was he required to do so," said the city’s attorney Esther Suarez. "The mayor is allowed to use his own discretion."
Was she pushed out?
Roberts also denied rumors that Cotter had been forced out of her position. He has been quoted as saying that a proposed offer of employment on the county level is waiting for his former business administrator.
Cotter said that she is exploring her options and has not committed to anything yet.
According to the mayor’s spokesperson, Bill Campbell, Cotter and the city are in negotiations for a severance package. While the details of that package have not been determined, multiple city sources said that the package could be as high as three months’ salary and full benefits.
The fact that the city is negotiating a severance package supports allegations that Cotter was forced out. Campbell called the split a "mutual" one Thursday.
New City Council president Ramos also skated around the issue at Wednesday night’s City Council meeting. Originally, he said that that Cotter had left for an opportunity with the county, but later said that the split was "mutual."
"I thought corporate parachutes are something that we’re trying to curb in this country," said Councilman Tony Soares Thursday. "It’s just a big smokescreen. The real truth is that they just couldn’t work [with Cotter]." Sources had said that Cotter was a no-nonsense administrator who worked hard.
Roberts said that criticism of Drasheff’s hiring is being blown out of proportion. He pointed to the fact that the hiring passed by a wide margin on the council. He added that even Soares, who has been critical, voted in the affirmative.
"All these comments are just being made to create controversy and destabilize our government," said Roberts.
Soares later said that the reason that he ended up voting for Drasheff was because he had met with him earlier in the week and Drasheff sufficiently answered many of his questions. "I believe that there are certain departments [in City Hall] that are in need of a serious overhaul, and he [Drasheff] agreed to review those requests," said Soares.
Stack to stick around
There were rumors floating around that the city’s Finance Director Katia Stack, the wife of Union City Mayor Brian Stack, had offered her resignation after she learned, at the last minute, that Cotter and the city were parting ways. Being the finance director, she had a close professional relationship with Cotter.
"I was upset to learn about Laurie’s departure just before it was about to come out in the newspaper," said Stack Thursday. "I had some questions for the mayor and waited until he came back. Things got blown out of proportion. We worked things out and I’m going to stay."
Mayor Roberts released a statement Tuesday that refuted that Stack ever officially submitted her resignation. "A story in a daily newspaper erroneously reported that Finance Director Katia Stack had offered her resignation from my administration," said a press release. "Katia Stack has no intentions of leaving her current position. I would like to stress that we have a excellent working relationship and I would like to commend her for doing the fine job she is doing for me and the citizens of Hoboken."