The Silent Coup: Who is Running New Rochelle?

NEW ROCHELLE, NY (June 20, 2024) — Who is running New Rochelle?

The City of New Rochelle, under the leadership of Mayor Yadira Ramos-Herbert, is operating in a manner that is unprecedented in its history. Since the forced departure of Kathleen Gill on April 9, the day-to-day operations of the City are being run by the Mayor through the Department of Public Works Commissioner, who succeeded the Department of Economic Development Commissioner as Acting City Manager. There has been no urgency or even a genuine effort to hire a full-time City Manager.

Responsibility for the “search” process, such as it is, has been handed over to the City Clerk, who is the Acting Human Resources Commissioner. The Clerk has no experience or qualifications in Human Resources nor running a search for a senior-level hire let alone a City Manager.

The person running the Law Department is the Deputy Corporation Counsel who has no previous experience running a municipal law department.

The problem with operating a local government with “interims” for an extended length of time is those appointees lose their independence to their appointing person or body. There are good reasons the City Charter has rules for terms of office. What is happening in New Rochelle destroys those reasons.

Ramos-Herbert has taken New Rochelle into dangerous and uncharted territory with what amounts to a silent coup.