{"id":322387,"date":"2026-08-16T02:51:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-16T02:51:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/322387\/"},"modified":"2026-08-16T02:51:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T02:51:17","slug":"hoboken-corp-counsel-quinones-perez-leaving-city-hall-post-coming-back-in-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/322387\/","title":{"rendered":"Hoboken Corp. Counsel Qui\u00f1ones Perez leaving City Hall, post coming back in house"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hoboken Corporation Counsel Arlene Qui\u00f1ones Perez is leaving City Hall, with the post coming back in house just shy of seven months after she was unanimously appointed<\/a> (9-0) by the City Council.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Facebook photo.<\/p>\n

By John Heinis\/Hudson County View<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to recognize and thank Arlene Quinones Perez of DeCotiis, FitzPatrick, Cole & Giblin LLP for the important work she has done on behalf of the City,\u201d Mayor Emily Jabbour began in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cArlene, with support from Hannah Valente, has not only provided thoughtful and experienced legal counsel, but has also helped strengthen the City\u2019s legal and administrative operations, identified opportunities for greater efficiency, and improved processes within City Hall. The new Corporation Counsel, who will be announced shortly, will build upon these improvements and seek to further control costs.\u201d<\/p>\n

She did not specify when Qui\u00f1ones Perez would be departing her role or when the new corporation counsel would be announced.<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s contract with DeCotiis, FitzPatrick, Cole & Giblin LLP was initially $15,000 in April, then amended to $25,000, and finally $45,000 at Wednesday evening\u2019s counsel meeting, where nine other legal contract increases were also approved.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith this transition, Arlene and her firm will continue to assist the City by dedicating their time and focus to Open Public Records Act (OPRA) compliance to continue to ensure public access and general litigation matters, including Marine View Plaza, among others,\u201d Jabbour added.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are grateful to Arlene and Hannah for their service under the City\u2019s outside legal services agreement and for their professionalism throughout this transition. This change reflects the City\u2019s continued efforts to build on the good work already underway by providing dedicated in-house legal support and closer operational integrations, as well as the responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n

Russo, who had been questioning the city\u2019s legal bills as recently as two days ago, said this situation is probably not as innocent as the mayor is making it out to be.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring this week\u2019s Hoboken City Council meeting, I exposed the unaccountable, political nature of a City contract with Decotiis, FitzPatrick, Cole & Giblin LLP, our Corporation Counsel\u2019s firm,\u201d he asserted.<\/p>\n

\u201cMayor Jabbour\u2019s decision to appoint a new Corporation Counsel as soon as this was brought to light is an attempt to cover up a blatantly unethical back-room deal which should have never been made, and calls the Mayor\u2019s leadership into serious doubt.\u201d<\/p>\n

Russo was blunt regarding his feelings about Qui\u00f1ones Perez and her law firm at Wednesday\u2019s meeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have been consistently questioning the DeCoitiis law firm because I\u2019m getting questions about it from my residents. And the reason I\u2019m getting questions about it is because corporation counsel is a partner in the firm. The concern is that she as a partner is allowing the firm to do continuous work,\u201d he said at the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that is why I continue to ask how much we\u2019re spending there so I can kinda keep a good eye on it. And in that closed session, we had a good conversation, [2nd Ward] Councilwoman [Tiffanie] Fisher is actually the one that made the comment that we should really be watching all of our law firms the same way. And because of that, I think she\u2019s right.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Friday, the councilman also called into question the council voting to end the Grand Street bike lane pilot by a 7-2 vote, as HCV first reported<\/a>, declaring that Jabbour is refusing to accept the result.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdditionally, the City Council overturned the Grand Street pilot program; however, the Mayor\u2019s refusal to comply has set up a potential legal fight that will not work out in her favor and would be a further insult to Hoboken taxpayers,\u201d Russo added.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne has to wonder if the legal conclusions reached by her own Corporation Counsel about Grand Street were independent to the point of retaliation by the Mayor herself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jabbour wrote off Russo\u2019s comments as political shenanigans.<\/p>\n

\u201cMichael Russo\u2019s statements are nonsense. My Administration continues to work hard for the City of Hoboken while Michael Russo continues to attempt to revive a failed Mayoral campaign. I remain focused on the serious work that we do each day to support the residents of Hoboken, not political theatre,\u201d she responded.<\/p>\n

On Saturday afternoon, Russo kept the back-and-forth going by stating that Jabbour keeps talking about her runoff election win since she hasn\u2019t achieved anything since taking office.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe mayor keeps pointing back to an election from last year because, frankly, there is very little else in her record that she can point to as a major accomplishment. By her own account, her effort to repay a political debt involving more than $650,000 to Decotiis has failed miserably,\u201d he chided.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd when she is asked to demonstrate what she has actually accomplished for Hoboken, the list she is promoting includes holding a Memorial Day parade, sharing posts on social media<\/a> over 3,500 times, and bringing back a gate sale. Residents deserve more than photo opportunities, social-media numbers, and events being presented as major achievements. They deserve results on the issues that actually affect their lives. Promoting routine city programming as though it were a transformational record of leadership is not!\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that Hoboken needs a mayor that delivers results such as lowering taxes, making the city more affordable, and hiring competent staff.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s note: This story was updated with additional comment from Hoboken Mayor Emily Jabbour, than another comment from 3rd Ward Councilman Mike Russo.<\/p>\n