So how does this work now? Dawn Zimmer can stay mayor of Hoboken and then run again in November. But who replaces her on the council, if anyone? And what happens if the council, at their next meeting, votes for someone else?
Tim Carroll spells it out in his cover story in the Hoboken Reporter this weekend. Click “Home” in the upper left to read the full story on our homepage under Hoboken News. Excerpted below:
City Clerk James Farina said that a special “winner-take-all” mayoral election will be scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 3 at the same time as the gubernatorial election. There will be no runoff in a special mayoral election.
Zimmer also gets to keep her seat on the council while performing the duties of acting mayor, and presumably running a campaign for the November election. She can still vote on council measures just like any other councilperson, said a city spokesman.
The council can either call a vote to name an interim mayor, or just allow Zimmer to continue as acting mayor. According to sources, the council will not call the matter to a vote.
However, if the council did decide to vote on the matter, and they chose Zimmer as interim mayor instead of acting mayor, her 4th Ward seat on the council would also go before the voters in that ward during the November election. Her mayoral seat would also be up.
Zimmer’s allies make up the majority of the council right now, so it is unlikely that they will take the chance on Zimmer losing both seats.
If Zimmer is elected mayor in November, the 4th Ward seat can be filled temporarily by a vote of the then-eight-member City Council. And an election would be held in the 4th Ward this coming February, city officials said.
Hoboken up for elections in November…and February?!
