Hoboken Corporation Counsel Arlene Quiñones Perez is leaving City Hall, with the post coming back in house just shy of seven months after she was unanimously appointed (9-0) by the City Council.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“I want to recognize and thank Arlene Quinones Perez of DeCotiis, FitzPatrick, Cole & Giblin LLP for the important work she has done on behalf of the City,” Mayor Emily Jabbour began in a statement.
“Arlene, with support from Hannah Valente, has not only provided thoughtful and experienced legal counsel, but has also helped strengthen the City’s legal and administrative operations, identified opportunities for greater efficiency, and improved processes within City Hall. The new Corporation Counsel, who will be announced shortly, will build upon these improvements and seek to further control costs.”
She did not specify when Quiñones Perez would be departing her role or when the new corporation counsel would be announced.
The city’s contract with DeCotiis, FitzPatrick, Cole & Giblin LLP was initially $15,000 in April, then amended to $25,000, and finally $45,000 at Wednesday evening’s counsel meeting, where nine other legal contract increases were also approved.
“With this transition, Arlene and her firm will continue to assist the City by dedicating their time and focus to Open Public Records Act (OPRA) compliance to continue to ensure public access and general litigation matters, including Marine View Plaza, among others,” Jabbour added.
“We are grateful to Arlene and Hannah for their service under the City’s outside legal services agreement and for their professionalism throughout this transition. This change reflects the City’s continued efforts to build on the good work already underway by providing dedicated in-house legal support and closer operational integrations, as well as the responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars.”
Russo, who had been questioning the city’s legal bills as recently as two days ago, said this situation is probably not as innocent as the mayor is making it out to be.
“During this week’s Hoboken City Council meeting, I exposed the unaccountable, political nature of a City contract with Decotiis, FitzPatrick, Cole & Giblin LLP, our Corporation Counsel’s firm,” he asserted.
“Mayor Jabbour’s decision to appoint a new Corporation Counsel as soon as this was brought to light is an attempt to cover up a blatantly unethical back-room deal which should have never been made, and calls the Mayor’s leadership into serious doubt.”
Russo was blunt regarding his feelings about Quiñones Perez and her law firm at Wednesday’s meeting.
“I have been consistently questioning the DeCoitiis law firm because I’m getting questions about it from my residents. And the reason I’m getting questions about it is because corporation counsel is a partner in the firm. The concern is that she as a partner is allowing the firm to do continuous work,” he said at the time.
“And that is why I continue to ask how much we’re spending there so I can kinda keep a good eye on it. And in that closed session, we had a good conversation, [2nd Ward] Councilwoman [Tiffanie] Fisher is actually the one that made the comment that we should really be watching all of our law firms the same way. And because of that, I think she’s right.”
On Friday, the councilman also called into question the council voting to end the Grand Street bike lane pilot by a 7-2 vote, as HCV first reported, declaring that Jabbour is refusing to accept the result.
“Additionally, the City Council overturned the Grand Street pilot program; however, the Mayor’s refusal to comply has set up a potential legal fight that will not work out in her favor and would be a further insult to Hoboken taxpayers,” Russo added.
“One has to wonder if the legal conclusions reached by her own Corporation Counsel about Grand Street were independent to the point of retaliation by the Mayor herself.”
Jabbour wrote off Russo’s comments as political shenanigans.
“Michael Russo’s statements are nonsense. My Administration continues to work hard for the City of Hoboken while Michael Russo continues to attempt to revive a failed Mayoral campaign. I remain focused on the serious work that we do each day to support the residents of Hoboken, not political theatre,” she responded.
Editor’s note: This story was updated with additional comment from Hoboken Mayor Emily Jabbour.
