Hoboken Councilwoman Giattino Elected Council President At Reorg

HOBOKEN, NJ —At the Hoboken City Council reorganization meeting on Tuesday night, Jan. 2, Councilwoman Jen Giattino was elected by her council colleagues to be council president for the next year.

Giattino is also beginning her second four-year term as 6th Ward councilwoman, representing the center of town. She was re-elected to that position in November.

Also at the meeting on Thursday night, the council voted for Councilwoman-at-Large Vanessa Falco to be the council vice president.

Both women were sworn in after the votes.

Giattino has, at times, been at odds with Mayor Ravi Bhalla, who supported a candidate who ran against her in November. Both Bhalla and Giattino ran for mayor in 2017.

After the swearing in, two other council members, Michael DeFusco and Ruben Ramos Jr., released a joint statement.

“Maintaining an independent City Council with a progressive leadership team is essential in our continued effort to push Hoboken forward," the statement read. The pair said they look forward to working with both women at the helm, to "negotiate good policy with the administration so we can make our city a better place for everyone.”

A number of other matters were on the council agenda to be discussed later in the evening, including a vote to change zoning requirements for a medical marijuana dispensary in the train station area, and a resolution to award a contract to demolish a defunct restaurant in the city's southwestern corner, which once served as a mob meeting place.