The Hudson County Schools of Technology board approved a new superintendent of schools job posting and named a new acting board secretary at this afternoon’s meeting.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
Both measures were approved unanimously (7-0) on the consent agenda without any discussion at the public session, which only lasted about 20 minutes.
The job posting is necessary after the board voted not to renew Superintendent Amy Lin-Rodriguez’s contract in January due to an explosive lawsuit filed by Board Secretary Joey Muniz in December alleging an 18-year affair between the two.
Additionally, Trustee Joe Cossolini, the Jersey City Police Officers Benevolent Association (POBA) president, was named acting secretary in December after Muniz in Lin-Rodriguez were suspended.
However, Cossolini resigned from the volunteer board at the end of last month and succeeding him will be Trustee Denise D’Alessandro the Hudson County director of roads and public property.
The only points of discussion revolved around the aforementioned litigation, with Trustee Hector Zulueta pressing Board Counsel Jonathan Busch about where the internal investigation lies, to which he eventually said that has stalled due to a possible settlement.
“I will say that the investigation … in respect to Mr. Muniz is at the tail end and we’ve been trying to meet with Mr. Muniz for the past two to three weeks or so, there have been emails exchanged between an attorney in my office whose handling this matter and Mr. Muniz’s attorney, Mr. [Stephen J.] Edelstein,” Bush explained.
” … The representation that I’ve seen in the exchange with Mr. Muniz’s attorneys is that Mr. Muniz may be interested in resolving this matter through settlement. And that has short circuited, to some degree, where we are in respect to the investigation …”
Edelstein was the only speaker during public comment, highlighting that he didn’t believe that he had any further clarity on what happened during the argument between Muniz and Lin-Rodriguez on November 25th that led to his suspension.
He continued that it’s been 115 days since then and seemed perplexed about where the investigation has gone.
“Most public bodies, even criminal divisions, don’t get involved with he said, she said types of stories where there are no witnesses, as is the case here … And by the way, so that we’re completely clear, we have never said that Mr. Muniz would not be interviewed,” stated Edelstein.
“That whole discussion was simply deferred, as Jonathan correctly said, [since we] mutually wanted to discuss the possibility of resolving these disputes.”
Muniz is also suing the district over an alleged Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA) violation dating back to January 2024 where he claims his employment was discussed in closed session and meeting minutes were not recorded.
