The Hoboken City Council voted to table a vote on naming Jennifer Gonzalez the director of the new Department of Climate Action and Innovation, as well as appointing Diana Aviles as the head of the new Department of Parks, Recreation, and Public Works last night.
By Daniel Ulloa/Hudson County View
Both appointments were announced one week ago, with Mayor Ravi Bhalla, also a Democratic candidate in the 8th District congressional race, coming out in support of the moves.
“It is a smack in our face to bring somebody from out of town… and give them these huge salaries … You’re changing the titles to confuse us!” Patricia Waiters argued during the public portion that preceded the vote on resolutions.
“The chairperson of each committee is the person who gets put on as the sponsor of most of these things. This was just a holdover. I didn’t have the conversations with the administration about a lot of the things that are supposedly sponsored by me,” 3rd Ward Councilman Mike Russo explained.
He continued that Councilman-at-Large Jim Doyle, the vice president of the governing body for 2024, is now in charge of the committee, though Russo was chair last year.
Manny Rivera wanted more details on the appointments of directors, leading to Waiters yelling out and getting reprimanded for it.
“We still love you Pat,” Russo laughed.
“Does seniority and experience have an impact on how the individual is selected to become director?” 1st Ward Councilman Paul Presinzano asked.
“We review the candidate’s qualifications and yes I do think that has bearing on the decision that is made,” Assistant Business Administrator Caleb Stratton replied.
“ … Can I ask how many internal candidates were interviewed or who was on the short list?” Presinzano pressed on.
“We reviewed the available resources of the city, and we looked at who had the institutional knowledge, experience, and aptitude to fill an open position,” Stratton answered.
Presinzano said he was particularly interested in the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Public Works since it’s “the backbone” of quality of life issues, which were a focal point of his campaign last year.
He added that he previously requested details on the jobs, Hoboken Business Administrator Jason Freeman sent him state job descriptions, which, for example included six years of experience in development and administration for a director of public works.
“ … We don’t get to vote on directors that often, I wanted to do my homework, and that kinda gives me a good guideline, that means we have to have someone in these positions that has those qualifications,” Presinzano clarified.
“So I’m asking the question here if the state requires stuff like this, how is it that the potential head of the department does not have any of the experience that employees below them would … a job of this importance should have an extensive search of a candidate.”
He also accused the administration of ignoring a detailed hiring process.
Corporation Counsel Brian Aloia interjected that it was okay to talk about the hiring process, but specific employees could not be discussed in public session.
“The law says if we want to talk about employees in a closed session, you have to notice them. We can legally talk about any employee that we want to at any time. This administration does not want us to do that, for clarity, that’s the rule,” 2nd Ward Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher exclaimed.
Stratton said a superintendent of public works “is one of the most competent employees that we have,” but the director’s position is different and was selected based on the candidate’s experience and selected by the mayor, pending review of the council.
“I don’t have a clear conscience to look against and compare qualifications or the process … The only thing that I’m getting here as a rhyme or reason is that it’s the mayor’s choice and that’s it,” Presinzano said about the selection process.
“Those are your words, not ours,” Stratton replied.
“Correct, but I’m just trying to see the process … You just said we had a qualified candidate, and that candidate was not selected, so I’m asking about the process,” Presinzano said.
Stratton reiterated that isn’t what he said, noting that the superintendent and director have very different roles, later stating that no other candidate was considered for the role.
“What is the salary range for the director?” Russo asked.
Stratton said the city’s salary ranges for directors are between $130,000 to $180,000 a year.
“There is no salary range. We have no legal mechanism to compensate either of these directors. They’re absolutely not in our salary ordinance,” Russo asserted.
“We can appoint the directors. Both the directors were in the reorganization ordinance from December,” Stratton answered.
“We established those departments. But we, as the city council, did not establish a mechanism to pay those directors,” Russo argued.
Stratton said Aloia would give it a second look, but that he currently did not see any issues.
Russo said many positions are still on the organization chart, but remain vacant.
“We need to set that range. I’m not debating the numbers,” he noted.
“Should we make a motion to table this?” Presinzano asked.
“I agree with Councilman Russo,” Council President Jen Giattino said.
Doyle asked if they could potentially vote on acting director titles, noting it wouldn’t come with a pay raise, but Russo still pushed back.
“None of these positions are civil service positions. They’re created to serve … as the cabinet,” he added.
Doyle said they can act under the terms of their existing contracts.
“We don’t have to figure out the salary question tonight. You can still vote,” Aloia said.
“I’m going to make a position to table these two,” Giattino declared, which was seconded by Fisher.
The motion to table passed 8-1 for both resolutions, with Doyle voting no.
Around 10:30 p.m., just before the meeting ended, Giattino made a motion to revote on a first reading of an ordinance to officially put the two aforementioned departments on the city’s table of organization.
Russo suggested removing the director of finance title, which Giattino said she agreed with since they could always bring it back.
The amended ordinance was approved unanimously (9-0).