The Hoboken City Council named 4th Ward Councilman Ruben Ramos council president and 5th Ward Councilman Phil Cohen named vice president at Thursday evening’s reorganization meeting.
By Dan Israel/Hudson County View
Ramos was nominated for president by recently re-elected Councilman at-Large Joe Quintero. There were no other nominations prior to the unanimous vote (9-0) for Ramos, and he was subsequently sworn in to the role.
“Thank you everyone. I really appreciate it. Looking forward to having a great year to work together,” Ramos said.
Afterwards, Ramos nominated Cohen for vice president, which was a much closer vote.
6th Ward Councilwoman Diane Imus nominated 2nd Ward Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher for vice president, stating that she appreciates there was even a vote on this matter.
“We just came away from a very hopeful and meaningful inauguration, where our mayor and our newest council people spoke of a new direction. And what really matters to me is they also spoke of very good civil discourse,” Imus stated.
“That really matters. Any number of people up here would be an excellent vice president. But what I value most for this spot is transparency, experience, and a demonstrated effort to build bridges since the runoff. So for that reason, I’d like to nominate Tiffanie Fisher.”
While Fisher had the support of Imus, 1st Ward Councilman Paul Presinzano, and 3rd Ward Councilman Michael Russo, and of course herself, it was not enough.
Cohen ultimately prevailed with the support of Councilman at-Large Steve Firestone, Councilwoman at-Large Caitlin Layson, Ramos, and himself.
The reorganization follows the swearing in of Mayor Emily Jabbour, alongside Firestone, Layson, and Quintero, at a ceremony earlier that day at Stevens Institute of Technology.
At the same meeting, the governing body voted to appoint Arlene Quiñones Perez as new corporation counsel, as HCV first reported.
