Dawn Zimmer

The Associated Press reported this afternoon that Mayor Peter Cammarano, charged yesterday by the feds with taking $25,000 in bribes, said he won't resign.

The report says the 32-year old Cammarano plans to continue running the city as he fights the corruption charges.

"The charges are completely baseless," said Cammarano in a brief statement. "I am entitled to a presumption of innocence. I look forward to my day in court to vigorously defend against these charges and to clear my name."

One of 44 people arrested or charged yesterday, Cammarano is out on bail. He is charged with taking cash payments from a confidential witness posing as a developer as part of a federal corruption probe. 

Defeated by Cammarano in a runoff election last month, Council President Dawn Zimmer yesterday called on Cammarano to resign for the good of Hoboken.

So did Councilman Ravi Bhalla.

Hoboken Council President Dawn Zimmer

HOBOKEN - Defeated by him in a runoff election on June 9th, Council President Dawn Zimmer today called on Mayor Peter Cammarano to resign.

"I have read the complaint and these are extremely serious charges against him," Zimmer told PolitickerNJ.com. "I am urging him to resign. He should strongly consider it, particuarly since last week he was calling for Mr. (Hector) Claveria (a local, busted housing authority commissioner) to resign. These are extremely serious charges."

Zimmer said she believes everyone is innocent until proved guilty, but noted the rough political times the city weathered in recent months.

"Right now my biggest concern is the people of Hoboken," Zimmer said. "It was time to come together. I had accepted that he's mayor and I knew it was going to be a dance. Right now, we're up in the air again, and that's a hard place for Hoboken to be in."

The council president reiterated her disappointment with Cammarano for taking money from developers in his mayoral campaign, and did not appreciate statewide officials intervening to the degree they did in local politics.

"But I never imagined him (Cammarano) taking bribes," said Zimmer, who talked to corporation counsel shortly before speaking with PolitickerNJ.com.

HOBOKEN - If Mayor Peter Cammarano resigns amid federal corruption charges and Hoboken holds a special election, sources say Council President Dawn Zimmer - who lost a runoff election to Cammarano in June - would be the favorite to win.

Councilman Michael Russo, whose own father, Anthony, was jailed in 2004 on corruption charges in connection with his time as mayor from 1993 to 2001, is also another potential candidate for mayor. 

The young Russo's name went into circulation late Thursday afternoon.

Russo had contemplated a run at the empty mayor's seat earlier this year but backed down when internal polls showed him failing to gain traction beyond the 3rd Ward.

He ended up backing 2nd Ward Councilwoman Beth Mason.

As they headed into the teeth of their head-to-head June contest, then-Councilwoman Dawn Zimmer wanted to know why At-Large Councilman Peter Cammarano hadn't reported his campaign contributions to the state Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC).

Every call PolitickerNJ.com placed to Zimmer or to her campaign resulted in the councilwoman's repeated question about why Cammarano hadn't met the deadline.

In the 11th hour, on election day, June 9th, in point of fact, the Cammarano campaign released to the local press a list of campaign contributors and accounting of its finances, but these contributors were not listed on the ELEC website prior to the election.

The complaint filed by the U.S. Attorney's Office today against Cammarano reveals a mayoral candidate in the throes of a competitive May 12th mayoral campaign, intent on exchanging promises of expediting development projects to a federal cooperating witness for cash - $5,000 before the election and $5,000 after; the second payment to come in time for the runoff with Zimmer.

If Peter Cammarano, arrested on federal corruption charges after just 23 days in office, resigns as Mayor of Hoboken before early September, there will be a November 2009 special election to fill his seat.  In the meantime, Council President Dawn Zimmer, who narrowly lost the June runoff to Cammarano, could become Acting Mayor.

Cammarano was an associate in the law office of Democratic power lawyer Angelo Genova.

Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano

HOBOKEN - Hoboken Now reports that Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano assumed the oath of office today shortly before the council unanimously elected 4th Ward Councilwoman Dawn Zimmer as council president.

While Cammarano defeated Zimmer in a run-off election last month, the councilwoman's three running mates won in the earlier May 12th election.

Second Ward Councilwoman (and failed mayoral candidate) Beth Mason's endorsement of Zimmer over Cammarano in the runoff signaled her alliance with Zimmer and yet another Zimmer vote on the council.

It was Mason who nominated Zimmer today for council president, according to Hoboken Now. 

Councilwoman Dawn Zimmer

HOBOKEN - 4th Ward Councilwoman Dawn Zimmer has conceded the mayoral election to At-Large Councilman Peter Cammarano. 

While Dawn Zimmer has the option of seeking a recount, it appears that Peter Cammarano has won election as Mayor of Hoboken by a narrow 161 vote margin.  Zimmer will remain a force in local politics since her political allies will have control over the City Council. 

It is again worth noting that Cammarano keeps one streak going: no women has ever been elected Mayor of a Hudson County municipality since the county was founded in 1840.

At-Large Councilman Peter Cammarano

UPDATED 

The Hudson County Board of Elections just reported to the camps of Cammarano and Zimmer that the at-large councilman has gone ahead by 161 votes in the wake of the board's provisional ballot tally.

The absentee results brokes down as follows: Cammrano, 63; Zimmer, 15.

Provisional vote totals showed 82 for Cammarano and 36 for Zimmer.

The Hudson County Board of Elections just reported to the camps of Hoboken mayoral candidates At-Large Councilman Peter Cammarano and 4th Ward Councilwoman Dawn Zimmer that after having counted 79 absentee ballots this morning, Cammarano now leads by 115 votes.

The Board will shortly report the results of their tally of 122 provisional ballots.