Newark mayor Ras Baraka is preparing to name Eric Pennington as the new city business administrator, according to two sources connected to the mayor.
Pennington, a former chief judge of the Orange Municipal Court, is expected to succeed Jack Kelly, who is retiring after four years in the post. The appointment requires city council confirmation.
Kelly spent twenty years as the Orange chief financial officer and was business administrator in Jersey City from 2011 to 2014 under Mayor Jeremiah Healy.
Sources say that Mildred Crump is expected to be re-elected city council president without opposition when the council reorganizes on July 1.
Baraka was re-elected to a second term in May with 77% of the vote – the largest percentage in the history of Newark mayoral elections. He will be sworn in on Sunday at the New Jersey Performance Arts Center.
In addition to Baraka and Crump, Augusto Amador, Carlos Gonzalez, John Sharpe James, Joseph McCallum, Eddie Osborne, Luis Quintana, and Anibal Ramos will be sworn in to new terms on the council. LaMonica McIver, the winner of the Central Ward council seat in the June 12 runoff, will also take office.
By David Wildstein
