Queens Councilmember Joann Ariola was elected to be the City Council’s minority leader in a vote on Friday — the caucus’s second try at elevating a member to the role.
The vote comes after a power struggle between two Council Republicans that splintered the six-member coalition. Half of the members did not attend the initial vote in January, and then challenged Staten Island Councilman David Carr’s election to the minority leader role on the basis that the meeting had not reached a quorum.
“We had a majority of members here, and I was honored that they trusted me with voting for me for as minority leader,” Ariola said in an interview.
Queens member Vickie Paladino was appointed minority whip.
The Republican caucus feud kicked off with the resignation of Staten Island Councilman Joe Borelli, who previously held the leadership role. He held the vote during his last week in order to elect his successor.
Only Borelli, Carr and Brooklyn Councilwoman Inna Vernikov, who all voted for Carr to take the post, were present for the first vote.
After that vote, Ariola and Paladino, along with Bronx Councilwoman Kristy Marmorato, in a formal complaint, asked Council Speaker Adrienne Adams to reject the election results.
The Council speaker’s lawyers sided with Ariola.
“I continue to believe that decision to be gravely wrong, and in contravention of our bylaws,” Carr said in a statement shortly before the second vote. “My constituents in Staten Island and Brooklyn are my first priority, and with the budget process underway, I want to give them all my focus rather than prolonging an already too-protracted battle over an 11-month leadership term.”
Ariola’s role will be certified by the Council and recognized at its next stated meeting.
“This is politics, and it’s the business that we’re in,” Ariola said. “People run against each other, and then they work together. I had a conversation with Councilmember Carr last night; we ended on a positive note, and I have no reason to believe that we won’t work together moving forward.”