Last week, Roberts named Laurie Cotter as the city's new business administrator. Cotter, a Jersey City resident, replaces George Crimmins Jr. as Hoboken's top financial officer.
Cotter has 15 years of municipal finance and administration experience. Currently she serves as the business administrator and budget director for Jersey City. She has been with Jersey City for the past seven years; in 1994 she was appointed to the post of assistant business administrator and budget director, and in March of 2000 she was promoted to the position of business administrator. Currently, Jersey City's budget exceeds $315 million while Hoboken's is $54.8 million.
Other positions that have yet to be announced are the directorships for the department of human services, department of environmental services and the city's public information officer. In addition to the directorships and the administrative positions, there are two open seats (4th and 6th Ward) on the City Council.
While, Roberts transition leader State Senator Bernard Kenny would not say who would fill those positions and what kind of experience might be required, he did say that he feels they will hire the most qualified person for each of the openings.
"We will assemble a professional team that will honor and competently serve the city of Hoboken," he said. Several names have been linked to these vacant positions, though no formal announcement was made last week. Sources have said that among those in consideration for appointments are Carmelo Garcia and Michael Lenz, who were instrumental in the Roberts campaign. Transition spokesperson Michael Estevez would not comment on those possibilities last week.
New business administrator
"[Cotter] brings a well-earned reputation for being a prudent fiscal manager and strong advocate for the taxpayer," said Roberts Tuesday. "I am overjoyed that Laurie has chosen to come to Hoboken, and I look forward to working with her."
Before joining Jersey City, Cotter spent eight years with the Local Government Services Division at the New Jersey State Department of Community Affairs (DCA) starting in 1986. In 1990, she was promoted to the to become the administrator of the Distressed Cities Program, a program that finds state funds for finically struggling urban areas. She was then promoted to the position of special assistant to the director of the Local Government Services Division of the DCA in1991.
Cotter said Friday morning that her time in Jersey City was well spent, especially when it came to improving quality of life issues and consolidating the municipal budget.
"We have been aggressive in streamlining our budget and cutting costs," said Cotter. "Some of our most impressive accomplishments were the realignment of the police department and the consolidation of the fire department, all of which save a lot of taxpayer money and addresses quality of life issues."
Nevertheless, that city has had to deal with budget gaps and a loss of state aid for the last two years.
Cotter said that while Jersey City is much larger than Hoboken, there are many similarities between the two towns.
"The both share a waterfront and are experiencing the extreme impact of the development on that waterfront," explained Cotter. "Both cities have to address how to deal with issues such as traffic and parking, but the key is going to be managing development. While it is hard to deny development projects that do bring in funds, it is important that you temper that within the framework of the type of city you want to live in."
Cotter's name was brought to the attention of the Roberts transition team by Weehawken Mayor and West New York Business Administrator Richard Turner. "During the search, I reviewed the credentials of and met many qualified candidates," said Turner Thursday from his Weehawken office. "The fact that she has successfully managed the budget of the second largest city in the state put her well ahead of most candidates, but when you couple that with her experience in working in urban districts there is no question that she is the right person for the job."
Last year, Jersey City faced a huge budget crunch. Cotter was instrumental in working with the state to get more than $16 million is state aid from the Distressed Cities Program.
"I am very pleased to be joining David Roberts' administration," said Cotter Tuesday. "He and I share a common philosophy toward fiscal management, and that is to formulate prudent municipal budgets, reduce waste, and maximize every taxpayer dollar. Hoboken faces some fiscal and budgetary challenges in the near future and down the road, but I believe that we can meet those challenges by adhering to this philosophy and making tough but responsible decisions on the behalf of every Hoboken resident."
Residency requirements
During the public portion of Wednesday night's City Council meeting, former city council president and current police Lt. James Fitzsimmons urged Mayor-elect Roberts and his team to adhere to Hoboken residency policy. "I truly believe that in a town of almost 40,000 people, if you advertise the position properly you are going to find a fully qualified person for every city job," said Fitzsimmons. "A person that lives here is obviously going to care more about the money that they are spending, because it is their money too."
The residency policy states that every city employee must either live in Hoboken or move here within the first six months of being employed by the city. Cotter is a resident of Jersey City and will have to get a waiver for the City Council to work in Hoboken and still live in Jersey City, unless she wants to move here.
The residency requirement was a hotly debated issue in Hoboken in 1994. Ironically, at the time, Fitzsimmons was in favor of exempting certain people from it, and Roberts wanted to rigorously stick to it.
At the time, there was pressure on the city to enforce the residency requirement law, which had not been enforced for over 20 years. Fitzsimmons sponsored an ordinance that would allow 21 municipal workers who live out of town to remain living out of town, but stated that all future city employees would be forced to live in the city. In a political tug-of-war, the measure originally passed, only to be vetoed by Mayor Anthony Russo, who believed that granting grandfather status to certain people but not others would make it difficult for the city to enforce the law in the future. In a vote overriding the mayor's veto, the council passed the measure by a 6-3 margin.
Roberts backed Russo, saying that he believed that there should be no exemptions to the policy. According to Roberts it would have been "unfair to give special treatment to employees who have broken the rules."
The law is on the books and still applies today. But some of Roberts' supporters have said in the past that for certain positions, they would rather be sure that they're getting the best person, whether that person lives inside the city or out.
Recently, the city gave an exemption for the position of library director. The city's current library director lives out of town.
Turner does not feel that Cotter's residency should be an issue.
"It is not at all unusual for financial professionals to come from other cities," said Turner. "In fact, most CFOs come from other communities than the one in which they work." Turner himself lives in Weehawken, where he is mayor, but is the business administrator in West New York.
Counting down the days
The inauguration has been scheduled for Sunday, July 1. There will be an early morning Mass and an afternoon reception on the city's waterfront. All events are free and open to the public.
Roberts will be sworn in with his slate of at-large council members, Carol Marsh, Ruben Ramous, Jr. and Tony Soares. The inauguration events are as follows:
• 8:30 a.m. - Inaugural Mass at Sts. Peter and Paul Church, Fourth and Hudson streets. This will be presided over by Rev. David Arias, the regional bishop of Hudson County.
• 11 a.m. - Swearing-in ceremony of the mayor-elect and at-large council members on the steps of City Hall. Speakers at the ceremony will include Rep. Robert Menendez, Senators Jon Corzine and Robert Torricelli, state Sen. Bernard Kenny and democratic gubernatorial candidate and Woodbridge Mayor Jim McGreevey.
• 1-4 p.m. - Celebration reception at Pier A Park, featuring feature food and entertainment.
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