Hoboken’s Chief Resilience Officer Caleb Stratton will add assistant business administrator to his resume in the new year, while two staffers for Mayor Ravi Bhalla will also take on new roles in 2020.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“Caleb has been key to the progress of our sustainability priorities, including the development of a municipal micro-grid in collaboration with Sandia National Laboratories,”Mayor Ravi Bhalla said in a statement.
“As we embark on an ambitious resilient infrastructure agenda, Caleb’s innovative approach will be essential to our success.”
John Allen, Bhalla’s chief of staff since his administration took office, will serve as assistant corporation counsel – a role he served in on a few select occasions in 2019.
“John has been invaluable partner to me as my Chief of Staff and has established strong working relationships across county and state government,” Bhalla added.
“I’d like to thank John for his service, and we are lucky to have an attorney who brings both public and private sector experience to address the legal challenges facing the City of Hoboken in a professional, ethical, and cost-effective manner.”
Meanwhile, Jason Freeman, another early hire by the mayor as his deputy chief of staff, will now be taking on the role of Bhalla’s director of operations: a newly created position at City Hall.
“Jason has played a dynamic role in my administration and always brings a strong work ethic,” the mayor also said. “His understanding of Hoboken’s issues makes him a vital asset to my Administration.”
The mayor’s office further stated that both the deputy chief of staff and chief of staff positions have been eliminated, leaving Bhalla with Freeman as his director of operations and Vijay Chaudhuri as his director of communications.
At the end of last year, Bhalla vetoed local legislation that would’ve limited the number of people he could hire in his office and it appeared that Freeman may be laid off following the passage of this year’s $117.6 budget in June, though that never actually came to fruition.