Palisades Park places second Korean American in deputy mayor seat

August 11, 2015
Jong Chul Lee

Jong Chul Lee

By The Korea Times New York staff

Palisades Park, New Jersey, has appointed City Councilman Jong Chul Lee to the seat of deputy mayor, Mayor James Rotundo announced through a press release Monday.

The appointment comes following the removal of former Deputy Mayor Jason Kim from the post.

Lee accepted the seat and said he would do his best to act as a bridge between the borough government and the local Korean American community.

The appointment makes Lee the second-ever Korean American to hold the position in a borough that boasts the nation’s highest density and percentage of Korean Americans, at just over half of the population as of the 2010 U.S. Census.

Lee has resided in the area since the mid-1990s. He was elected to the council in 2009.

The borough has seen conflict within its local government — earlier this year, Rotundo said Democratic Chairman Michael Pollotta had joined with Kim to plan a recall election.