Mayor of Hoboken, New Jersey

Mayor of the City of Hoboken
Incumbent
Dawn Zimmer
since 2009
Term length Four years
Inaugural holder Cornelius V. Clickener
Formation 1855
Salary $116,100[1]
Website Mayor Dawn Zimmer

The Mayor of the City of Hoboken is the head of the executive branch of government of Hoboken, New Jersey, United States. The mayor has the duty to enforce the municipal charter and ordinances; prepare the annual budget; appoint deputy mayors, department heads, and aides; and approve or veto ordinances passed by the City Council. The mayor is popularly elected in a nonpartisan general election. The office is held for a four-year term without term limits.

Thirty-eight individuals have held the office of mayor since the City of Hoboken was chartered on March 29, 1855. Cornelius V. Clickener was the inaugural mayor of the city, and served two consecutive terms. The current mayor is Dawn Zimmer; she assumed the position as Acting Mayor on July 31, 2009 following the resignation of Peter Cammarano. She was elected in a special election to fill the unexpired term on November 3, 2009 that was due to end on June 30, 2013. On July 20, 2010, the Hoboken Council voted to move the nonpartisan municipal elections to be held on the same day as the statewide general election in November.[2] This extended Zimmer's term until December 31, 2013.

Contents

Duties and powers

The City of Hoboken is organized as a mayor-council form of government under the Optional Municipal Charter Law. This provides for a city-wide elected mayor serving in an executive role, as well as a city council serving in a legislative role. All of these offices are selected in a nonpartisan municipal election and all terms are four years.[3] Under state law, the mayor has the duty to enforce the charter and ordinances of the city, and all applicable state laws; report annually to the council and the public on the state of the city; supervise and control all departments of the government; prepare and submit to the council annual operating and capital budgets; supervise all city property, institutions and agencies; sign all contracts and bonds requiring the approval of the city; negotiate all contracts; and serve as a member, either voting or ex-officio, of all appointive bodies.[4]

The mayor has the power to appoint departments heads with the approval of the City Council; to remove department heads subject to a two-thirds disapproval by the City Council; approve or veto ordinances subject to an override vote of two-thirds of the council; and appoint deputy mayors. The mayor is permitted to attend and participate in meetings of the City Council, without a vote, except in the case of a tie on the question to fill a council vacancy.[4]

Succession

In the event of an absence, disability, or other cause preventing the mayor from performing his duties, the mayor may designate the business administrator or any other department head as acting mayor for up to 60 days.[4] In the event of a vacancy in the office, the President of the City Council becomes acting mayor, and the council has 30 days to name an interim mayor. If no interim mayor is named, the Council President continues as acting mayor until a successor is elected, or until the council reorganizes and selects a new President. Prior to 1971, there was no automatic succession law.[5]

List of mayors

Rank Rank[note 1] Mayor Years in office Notes
1 1 Cornelius V. Clickener 1855–1857 Cornelius V. Clickener was the first mayor of Hoboken, New Jersey
2 2, 4 Franklin B. Carpenter[note 1] 1857–1858, 1859–1860
3 3 George William Morton 1858–1859
4 5 John R. Johnston 1860–1863
5 6 Lorenzo W. Elder 1863–1864
6 7 Charles T. Perry 1864–1865
7 8 Frederick B. Ogden 1865–1867
8 9 Frederick W. Bohnstedt 1867–1869
9 10 Hazen Kimball 1869–1871
10 11 Frederick L. Schmersahl 1871–1873
11 12 Peter McGavisk 1873–1875
12 13 Joseph Russel 1875–1878
13 14, 16 Elbridge V. S. Besson[note 1] 1878–1880, 1881–1883
14 15 John A. O'Neill 1880–1881
15 17 Herman L. Timken 1883–1886
16 18 Edwin J. Kerr 1886–1888
17 19 August Grassman 1888–1891
18 20 Edward R. Stanton 1891–1892
19 21 William Ellis 1892–1893
20 22 Lawrence Fagan 1893–1901
21 23 Adolph Lankering 1901–1906
22 24 George Steil 1906–1910
23 25 George Gonzales 1910–1912
24 26 Martin Cooke 1912–1915
25 27 Patrick R. Griffin 1915–1926
26 28 Gustav Bach 1926–1929
27 29 Bernard N. McFeely 1930–1947
28 30 Fred M. De Sapio 1947–1953
29 31 John J. Grogan 1953–1965
30 32, 34 Louis De Pascale[note 1] 1965, 1965–1973
31 33 Silvio Failla 1965
32 35 Steve Cappiello 1973–1985
33 36 Thomas Vezzetti 1985–1988
34 37 Patrick Pasculli 1988–1993
35 38 Anthony Russo 1993–2001
36 39 David Roberts 2001–2009
37 40 Peter Cammarano 2009 Peter Cammarano was arrested in Operation Bid Rig and resigned 30 days after being sworn into office.
38 41 Dawn Zimmer 2009- Dawn Zimmer was the first female mayor of Hoboken, New Jersey

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d Because Franklin B. Carpenter, E.V.S. Besson and Louis de Pascale each served two nonconsecutive terms as mayor, the rank for all who followed each person became offset from the actual number of people who served (and as a result there have been 38 people who have served 41 mayoral terms). Because of this, rank can be determined either by the actual number of people who served (left column) or the mayoral terms served (right column).

References

General
Specific
  1. ^ Baldwin, Carly (August 7, 2009). "Zimmer cuts own salary 10 percent". The Jersey Journal. http://www.nj.com/news/jjournal/hoboken/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1249626361234920.xml&coll=3. Retrieved December 8, 2010. 
  2. ^ Musat, Stephanie (July 21, 2011). "Hoboken council majority moves next election from May 2013 to November 2013". The Jersey Journal. http://www.nj.com/jjournal-news/index.ssf/2011/07/hoboken_council_majority_moves.html. Retrieved July 21, 2011. 
  3. ^ "Faulkner Act (OMCL) Mayor-Council". Types And Forms Of New Jersey Municipal Government. New Jersey State League of Municipalities. http://njslom.org/types.html#Mayor-Council. Retrieved November 15, 2009. 
  4. ^ a b c "Optional Municipal Charter Law". New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, Division of Local Government Services. State of New Jersey. 2003. http://www.state.nj.us/dca/lgs/miscpubs/other/optional_muni_charter_law.pdf. Retrieved November 15, 2009. 
  5. ^ "New Jersey Statutes Annotated, 40A:9-131". New Jersey State Legislature. http://lis.njleg.state.nj.us/cgi-bin/om_isapi.dll?clientID=11366185&Depth=4&TD=WRAP&advquery=%2240A%3a9-131%22&headingswithhits=on&infobase=statutes.nfo&rank=&record={10D3A}&softpage=Doc_Frame_Pg42&wordsaroundhits=2&x=32&y=14&zz=. Retrieved January 27, 2010. 

External links

Mayors of Hoboken, New Jersey
Clickener • Carpenter • Morton • Carpenter • Johnston • Elder • Perry • Ogden • Bohnstedt • Kimball • Schmersahl • McGavisk • Russel • Besson • O'Neill • Besson • Timken • Kerr • Grassman • Stanton • Ellis • Fagan • Lankering • Steil • Gonzales • Cooke • Griffin • Bach • McFeely • DeSapio • Grogan • DePascale • Failla • DePascale • Cappiello • Vezzetti • Pasculli • Russo • Roberts • Cammarano • Zimmer
Hoboken-related articles