

NEWARK — In a sweeping reversal of Newark Mayor Luis Quintana's makeover of City Hall, the state today rejected a slate of his picks to lead several city departments, said two officials with knowledge of the moves.

The state Department of Community Affairs, which has final say over all of Newark’s hiring, reversed the bulk of Quintana’s would-be appointments, citing a lack of information.

Among those rejected were James Stewart, the proposed fire director; Amos Crudup, the proposed director of neighborhood services; Danielle Smith, the proposed head of finance, and Rahaman Muhammad, the proposed director of operations, the officials said.

Also rejected was Hector Corchado, a former councilman and the recently retired head of the city’s taxi division whom Quintana hoped to appoint as a deputy police director. Since the police department already has a deputy director, a new position would have to be created.

The officials who spoke to The Star-Ledger requested anonymity as they were not authorized to speak publicly.

State officials declined to comment on specific cases.

"The DCA cannot and will not discuss individuals under consideration," said spokeswoman Tammori Petty in a statement. "However, we can verify that we have not received information from the City as to why an added administrative Deputy Police Director position is necessary when boots are needed on the ground. Until we receive information supporting that the position is needed, no requests to fill the position will be approved."

Officials said today that most of the appointments were rejected due to a lack of basic information such as résumés or proof of qualification.

Quintana said today that he had not heard about the rejections. In a Friday meeting with state officials regarding the appointments he said he stressed the need to move forward.

"We just told them we had a lot of things we’re doing," Quintana said. "We want to be prepared. We also want to get good government to the people of Newark."

Two of Quintana’s picks were approved. Esmeralda Diaz Cameron was approved to become the city’s director of communications, and his proposed chief of staff, Diane Johnson, is likely to be approved as well, officials said.

Just weeks after former mayor Cory Booker was elected to the U.S. Senate, Quintana, voted in by the city council last month, fired a host of directors the day before Thanksgiving.

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