Judge has decided on who will fill Palisades Park's vacant council seat

PALISADES PARK — A judge has sided with the Democratic County Committee, ultimately deciding it swore in the rightful council person to a vacant seat.

A council vacancy was created when Democratic Councilman Chong "Paul" Kim won a mayoral election in November 2022. The center of the legal battle was timelines for who was allowed to make the final decision on the vacancy: the Democratic County Committee or three members of the council.

State Superior Court Judge Peter Geiger ruled for the committee just hours before Monday night's Borough Council meeting.

The decision was a "complete and total victory," said Scott Salmon of Jardim, Meisner & Susser, the attorney representing Mayor Kim, Councilman Jason Kim, Councilman Michael Vietri and the Democratic County Committee of Palisades Park.

Suk Min, the resident whom the Palisades Park Democratic County Committee selected to fill the vacant seat, sat in his rightful place at Monday's meeting, Salmon said.

Attorney Matthew J. Giacobbe, representing council President Cynthia Pirrera and members Stephanie Jang and Jae Park, did not immediately return calls for comment.

"The judge believed the mayor and the Democratic committee acted properly in how they created the list and how they presented it," Salmon said. "When council members met on Jan. 31, they did not have a quorum, and appointing someone not on the list, they acted improperly."

Salmon said his clients will wait to see if the other side files an appeal but that the council could conduct business as normal Monday night.

Palisades Park Democratic County Committee Chair James Rotundo said he was always confident that the committee acted properly.

"I'm glad it's over and the judge saw through everything," Rotundo said. "I'm glad we are now moving forward. Palisades Park needs to move forward and get business done."

How we got here

At the Jan. 3 reorganization meeting, Rotundo said, he submitted a letter to the mayor and council and read out loud during the public meeting the names of the three people submitted to fill the seat: himself, Suk Min and Arlene Star.

Three council members believe the Democratic County Committee actions are void because a letter submitting the three names for consideration was dated Dec. 28, 2022, before Kim officially resigned from his council seat. Based on timelines and advice from the special counsel on Jan. 31 they voted and swore in Democratic former Councilman Andy Min, who was not on the list of recommendations to fill the seat.

The Democratic County Committee said the council did not act properly, and the committee swore in Suk Min to fill the council seat the next day.

Min was sworn into office on Jan. 31. The next day, Cleary Giacobbe Alfieri Jacobs LLC filed a complaint in state Superior Court on behalf of Pirrera, Jang, Park and the Borough Council naming Mayor Kim, Councilman Kim, Vietri and the Democratic County Committee of Palisades Park as defendants.

The Democratic committee then met to fill the vacancy, stating that the Borough Council had failed to act on the list of submitted names within 30 days. Suk Min was selected and immediately sworn into office, according to court documents.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Palisades Park NJ council seat vacancy filled under judge's decision