City Council candidate Joseph DeFalco, principal of Hackensack High School, died of a heart attack the day of the municipal election in 2005, but was elected despite his death. His running mates agreed to create a rotation under which each of the four surviving members of the New Visions for Hackensack slate would serve for a year as Mayor, creating a series of firsts for the City. Townes took office in 2005 as the city's first black mayor, and Sasso became the first female mayor in 2006. Meneses became Hackensack's first Hispanic mayor when he was sworn in on July 1, 2007, and Melfi took the reins as mayor in 2008. Four of the same five officials were re-elected in 2009 (Townes, Melfi, Sasso, Meneses), along with one opposition candidate, LaBrosse. The city council continued to rotate the mayor's seat, with the exception of Labrosse, and Melfi became mayor again in 2012.