Peter Cammarano

Gov. Jon Corzine in Hudson County late last year.

HOBOKEN - Gov. Jon Corzine issued a statement late in the day expressing his satisfaction in seeing Peter Cammarano, charged last week with taking cash bribes, relinquish the mayor's chair in the governor's hometown.

 “I believe it was entirely appropriate that Peter Cammarano submit his resignation as mayor of Hoboken, and with Dawn Zimmer taking the oath of office today, the city of Hoboken can now get back to the business of governing in the best interest of its citizens," said Corzine, who personally intervened yesterday with an amplified request for Cammarano to stand down. 

Today, Cammarano did.

Acting Mayor Dawn Zimmer and Hoboken City Clerk Jimmy Farina

HOBOKEN - One of Dawn Zimmer and Peter Cammarano's early battles involved zoning board appointments.

Cammarano wanted the mayor to make them. Zimmer, as the council president, argued that the council should make them.

Today, moments after she assumed the oath of office to replace Cammarano and become mayor, Zimmer stood by her desire to see the power to make zoning board appointments invested in the governing body and not the mayor.

"I hope my council colleagues restore power of zoning board appointments to the City Council," she announced moments after her swearing-in ceremony.

Cycnics would argue that as council president with at least three solid allies on the council, Zimmer would still ultimatley retain control of those appointments.

Councilwoman Carol Marsh stands by her friend, Dawn Zimmer, as Zimmer becomes Hoboken's first woman mayor.

HOBOKEN - It's been a torturous and rewarding path in Hudson County politics for Councilwoman Carol Marsh, who ginned up the city's reform movement base in her unsuccessful 2005 run for mayor against Dave Roberts, and won a seat on the council four years later on the Zimmer Team.

"I never felt this would be easy, and there's a lot of work to do to resolve a lot of competing interests," said Marsh as her friend and ally Dawn Zimmer became Hoboken's first woman mayor.

Sandwiched improbably between her two historic runs - one a heartbreaking loss and the other a victory culminating with Zimmer's swearing-in this afternoon - was Marsh's 2007 bid for the Assembly in the 33rd District as a candidate on the ticket backed by the Hudson County Democratic Organization (HCDO).

A lot of Marsh's allies worried that her place on that doomed ticket - running with West New York Mayor Sal Vega and Nicole Garcia -  against the Union City machine of Mayor Brian P. Stack was the HCDO's way of throwing Marsh under the bus.

Carla Katz for Mayor?

In an e-mail to PolitickerNJ.com responding to our inquiry, former CWA President Carla Katz says she has not ruled out a bid for Mayor of Hoboken in the November 2009 special election to replace Peter Cammarano.  This site is not publishing her exact comments; e-mails between Katz and Wally Edge are confidential.  Since leaving the CWA, Katz has become an attorney and a NJ 101.5 radio personality.

HOBOKEN - Acting Mayor Dawn Zimmer is answering questions now in the council chamber moments after assuming the oath of office.

The city's first woman mayor gets a big hand when a reporter asks her is it's "safe to assume" that come November she will be a candidate for mayor, to fill the unexpired term of Peter Cammarano, who resigned this morning.

"I think it's safe to assume that," Zimmer says.

Assemblyman Ruben Ramos (D-Hoboken)

A onetime ally of Peter Cammarano's who called for his resignation after the feds charged Cammarano with taking cash bribes, Assemblyman Ruben Ramos (D-Hoboken) said he called Council President Dawn Zimmer yesterday and pledged to work with her to unite a fractured city. 

"I think it's going to take an effort from all sides to restore people's faith in government right now," said Ramos. "I've spoken with (soon to be acting) Mayor Zimmer and offered my support. It's the right thing to do. The past is the past. The fact is, she and I have a lot more things in common than different."

Of Cammarano's resignation, the assemblyman added, "It's the right decision for the City of Hoboken. It's a town where everyone comes together we need to bring people together."

He wouldn't speculate about who he intends to support in the November special election for mayor. 

"I'm not even at that point yet," said Ramos. "Whoever's thinking about running at this point, shame on them. Right now, this needs to be about government, not politics."

HOBOKEN - Mayor Peter Cammarano's letter of resignation, officially stamped by Hoboken City Clerk James J. Farina at 9:16 a.m., came a day after Gov. Jon Corzine called on the mayor to stand down.

Already trailing Republican opponent Chris Christie in an election year and worried about the corrosive effects of Cammarano - and Ridgefield Mayor Anthony Suarez - on his own contest, Corzine issued a declarative statement yesterday. 

Sources here in Hoboken say Cammarano also felt the pressure of peers and street protesters clamoring for his dismissal following his arrest along with 43 others last Thursday on federal corruption charges. 

Today, one of the Hoboken elected officials who had called on Cammarano to step down, praised his decision to go.

"He finally did the right thing," said Councilman Ravi Bhalla. "He should be commended for listening to the community. There has been such an outcry for him to step down, and he is also getting pressure from statewide officials."

Council President Dawn Zimmer, second from left, posing with her slate for council earlier this year: Dave Mello, Carol Marsh, and Ravi Bhalla, all of whom won at-large seats on the council.

HOBOKEN - Council President Dawn Zimmer is scheduled to assume the oath of office of acting mayor at noon here in City Hall.

Zimmer will serve as acting mayor until a special November 3rd election. The winner of that election will fill the unexpired term of Mayor Peter Cammarano, who resigned today, effective at noon.

Cammarano defeated Zimmer in the June Hoboken mayoral election by 161 votes.

He is charged in federal court with accepting $25,000 in cash bribes in connection with trying to finance that campaign.

"He is fighting on every front a man can possibly be fighting on right now," said a friend of Cammarano's, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Peter Cammarano on the day he announced his run for mayor.

HOBOKEN - The Cammarano Christmas Card pictures Clerk Jimmy Farina had taped to the file cabinets in his office were gone.

Instead, Farina had in his possession a letter from Mayor Peter Cammarano, charged last Thursday with taking cash bribes.

"Dear Mr. Farina," the letter read, "I hereby resign my position as Mayor of the City of Hoboken, effective 12 noon on this date.

"It had been my hope and expectation that I could remain in office and perform my official duties until I had the opportunity to resolve the legal chagres against me in court. Regrettably, it has turned out that the controversy surrounding the charges against me has become a distraction to me and an impediment to the functioning of Hoboken government. The controversy has also been a terrible burden on my family. Accordingly, it is in the best interest of the City and all concerned for me to resign.

"I apologize to the residents of Hoboken for the disruption and disappointment this case has caused. However, I would like to reiterate that I am innocent of any criminal charges and I intend to fight the allegations against me."

Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano has resigned effective at noon today.  City Clerk James Farina received his resignation letter around 9:30 AM.