MAYOR ZIMMER THANKS CORPORATION COUNSEL MICHAEL KATES FOR SERVICE TO HOBOKEN
Mayor Dawn Zimmer announced that she is accepting the resignation of Corporation Counsel Michael Kates.
“I am incredibly grateful to Michael for his work on behalf of Hoboken as we tackled a multitude of inherited legal challenges,” said Mayor Dawn Zimmer. “When I offered him the position, Michael was concerned about the difficulty of meeting the demands of his law firm while serving as Corporation Counsel, but there was never any doubt about his commitment to Hoboken, and that is evident from all we have been able to accomplish in a short amount of time.”
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| Body of Michael Kates resignation letter to Mayor Zimmer |
The Administration is currently in negotiations for new Corporation Counsel and will notify the City Council and the public when the process is completed.
Click below to view the memo from Mayor Zimmer to the City Council:
http://hobokennj.org/docs/mayor/zimmer-kates-memo.pdf
Click below to view the letter from Michael Kates to Mayor Zimmer:
http://hobokennj.org/docs/mayor/kates-letter.pdf
Link: http://www.hobokennj.org/news/mayor-zimmer-thanks-corporation-counsel-michael-kates-for-service-to-hoboken/
My comments: Michael Kates in his letter referred to the difficulty of "serving two masters" in his press release and I am inclined to agree with him. The demands of this position require a full time commitment from the person in charge, namely Corporate Counsel. Michael Kates came in with a great resume for land use issues and had been on the side of the issues with respect to many of the positions this Administration has supported. However the job requires more than that expertise alone in order for that position to be successful.
I never envisioned Kates being an 4 year or 8 year guy from the outset since he was not even an employee of the City so perhaps it is best for the Administration to go in another direction and find a better fit for Hoboken. I am hoping that the occasional political hits that Kates alluded to in his letter from the usual cadre of duplicitous jackals of malcontent, old guard blather, and obstructionism were not that much of a factor in his resignation. Hopefully those creatures of deception and hypocrisy and propogaters of anti-Zimmerism will not be a deterrent towards finding a suitable candidate.
With that said, some of the criticism of Hoboken's handling of legal issues is a legitimate concern. The fact that the City is in two lawsuits over the Municipal Garage to me indicates that the City of Hoboken could have handled this better. I would like to thank Michael Kates for giving it a go but also having the sense to know when to move on. I contacted one City Official but I was not able to ascertain whether Kates has submitted the resignation or whether it was requested of him.
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