HOBOKEN – Mayor Dawn Zimmer sent an e-mail to City Council members on Wednesday afternoon indicating that she will exercise her veto power if the council votes to lower the mayor’s and directors’ salaries at the Wednesday, June 15 council meeting.
The ordinances passed by a 5-3 margin at the June 1 council meeting when they were introduced. But they await a final vote.
On Wednesday night, the public will have a chance to sound off on the ordinance in a hearing during the meeting, and then the council will vote. Under Hoboken’s style of government, the mayor can veto ordinances by the City Council. A veto can only be overturned if at least six out of the nine members (a two-thirds supermajority) vote against the mayor’s veto.
The proposed ordinances would lower Zimmer’s salary from $115,950 to $100,000, and the directors’ salaries would also be set at a lower range.
The legislation was introduced by Council President Beth Mason, who often opposes Zimmer, and Mason said she has been advocating for cuts from the top as a way to save the city money.
Zimmer said that the proposed cuts go beyond her own 10 percent reduction that she took when she assumed the duties of mayor.
In the email, Zimmer said the proposals seem to be politically motivated, and said they are “not in the best interests of the City of Hoboken.”
She urged the council to vote down the legislation in the email, and said if the measures are passed she will veto the two pieces of legislation. — Ray Smith
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