Dawn Zimmer

Dawn Zimmer
38th Mayor of Hoboken, New Jersey
Incumbent
Assumed office July 31, 2009
Preceded by	Peter Cammarano
Personal details
Born	1968
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Stan Grossbard
Alma mater	University of New Hampshire
Religion	Judaism

Dawn Zimmer (born 1968) is the 38th mayor of Hoboken, New Jersey. She was sworn in on November 6, 2009 after winning a special election to fill the remainder of Peter Cammarano's term. She had been serving as Acting Mayor since Cammarano's resignation on July 31, 2009 following his arrest on corruption charges. Zimmer is the first female mayor of Hoboken.^[1]

Early life and career

Zimmer was born in Maryland and raised in Laconia, New Hampshire.^[2] She attended public schools and graduated cum laude in 1990 from the University of New Hampshire with a degree in history. She taught English at a private language school in Japan from 1990 to 1993.^[3]

Zimmer worked at Sumitomo Corporation of America doing internal and external communications for four years and in public relations specializing in crisis communications at Edelman Worldwide for three years. She has also worked as a family portrait photographer and as marketing director for her husband's jewelry business.^[4] Zimmer moved to Hoboken with her family, in September 2002, from New York City.^[3]

Civic and political activities

Zimmer at the swearing-in ceremony of Union City Mayor Brian P. Stack, May 18, 2010.

Zimmer became involved in civic life in Hoboken when she joined the Southwest Parks Coalition Steering Committee to advocate for more park space in southwest Hoboken's 4th Ward. She also served as a board member of the Kaplan Cooperative Preschool and as secretary of the Parent Teacher Student Organization for the Elysian Charter School.^[4] Prior to that, her main political experience was serving as senior class president in high school.^[2]

In 2007, Zimmer ran for Hoboken City Council in the 4th Ward against incumbent Christopher Campos. In the first election in May, neither candidate reached 50 percent, necessitating a runoff election. Zimmer outpolled Campos in the June runoff by eight votes, but Campos challenged the results, charging that absentee ballots were improperly handled. Zimmer in turn charged that Campos had received votes from non-residents. A second runoff was called in November, with Zimmer defeating Campos by a margin of 1,070 votes to 956.^[5][6]

Zimmer ran for Mayor of Hoboken in 2009. She lost to Peter Cammarano in the June runoff by 161 votes.^[7] On July 1, when Cammarano was sworn in as mayor, the City Council unanimously elected Zimmer as Council President.^[8]

On July 23, 2009, Cammarano was arrested by the FBI as part of a major corruption and international money laundering conspiracy probe known as Operation Bid Rig. Cammarano was charged with accepting $25,000 in cash bribes from an undercover cooperating witness.^[9] The same witness approached Zimmer's campaign staff and was unsuccessful in setting up a meeting. ^[10] Zimmer joined other local officials in calling for Cammarano's resignation.^[7]

On July 31, 2009, Cammarano resigned from office, and Zimmer was immediately sworn in as Acting Mayor.^[7] On November 3, 2009, she won a special election to fill the rest of Cammarano's mayoral term. In the special election, Zimmer faced six opponents: City Councilwoman Beth Mason, businessman Frank Raia, former Hoboken Municipal Court judge Kimberly Glatt, Hoboken Republican Club co-founder Nathan Brinkman, management consultant Everton A. Wilson, and former corrections officer Patricia Waiters. She finished with 43% of the vote, with Mason in second place with 23% and Raia in third place with 18%. Because it was a special election, no runoff was required.^[11]

Zimmer was sworn in as Mayor on November 6, 2009, giving up her City Council seat.^[12]

Family

Zimmer is married to Stan Grossbard. Grossbard is President of the RCDC Corporation, a diamond manufacturing and wholesaling company that markets the Original Radiant Cut Diamond. The Original Radiant Cut Diamond is a diamond cut invented in 1977 by Zimmer's father-in-law, Henry Grossbard^[13] who was killed in a hit-and-run accident in Hoboken in 2005. Zimmer converted from Unitarianism to Judaism.^[14] They have two children who attend public school in Hoboken.^[4]

References

1. ^ Baldwin, Carly (2009-08-04). "Zimmer's busy day: TV, policy chats, and a race". The Jersey Journal. http://www.nj.com/news/jjournal/hoboken/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1249367122120240.xml&coll=3. Retrieved 2009-08-04. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "The Dawn you don’t know". Hudson Reporter. 2010-02-18. http://www.hudsonreporter.com/pages/full_stories_home/push?id=6388677. Retrieved 2010-05-17. 
3. ^ ^{a b} "Meet your 3rd and 4th Ward candidates". Hudson Reporter. 2007-05-01. http://www.hudsonreporter.com/view/full_story/2411924/article-Meet-your-3rd-and-4th-Ward-candidates-Council-hopefuls-want-to-represent-west-side-of-town. Retrieved 2010-05-17. 
4. ^ ^{a b c} "About Dawn". Dawn for Council. 2007-02-06. Archived from the original on 2007-09-13. http://web.archive.org/web/20070913221212/dawnforcouncil.com/about-dawn/. Retrieved 2009-07-31. 
5. ^ "The final, final, official numbers". Hoboken Now. 2007-11-12. http://www.nj.com/hobokennow/index.ssf/2007/11/the_final_final_official_numbe_1.html. Retrieved 2009-07-31. 
6. ^ "First-Time Campaign Manager Runs Winning Campaign in a Vipers’ Nest". Hoboken 411. 2007-11-12. http://hoboken411.com/archives/6255. Retrieved 2009-07-31. 
7. ^ ^{a b c} "Acting Hoboken mayor sworn in after Cammarano's resignation". The Star-Ledger. 2009-07-31. http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/07/acting_hoboken_mayor_swears_in.html. Retrieved 2009-07-31. 
8. ^ "Dawn Zimmer elected as Hoboken's Council president". Hoboken Now. 2007-07-01. http://www.nj.com/hobokennow/index.ssf/2009/07/dawn_zimmer_elected_as_hoboken.html. Retrieved 2009-07-31. 
9. ^ "F.B.I. Arrests Dozens in N.J. Corruption Sweep". The New York Times. 2009-07-23. http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/07/23/us/AP-NJ-Corruption-Arrests.html. Retrieved 2009-07-31. ^{[dead link]}
10. ^ "Beth Mason and Dawn Zimmer say they were also approached by a developer asking for special treatment in Hoboken". The Jersey Journal. 2009-07-24. http://www.nj.com/hobokennow/index.ssf/2009/07/beth_mason_and_dawn_zimmer_say.html. Retrieved 2009-09-07. "Councilwomen Dawn Zimmer and Beth Mason both said today they were each approached by a consultant they now think was trying to facilitate a meeting with Dwek, the FBI informant posing as a wealthy developer who promised campaign cash in return for favored treatment." 
11. ^ "Hoboken election roundup: Zimmer wins by wide margin, Mason gets second, Raia a close third". The Jersey Journal. 2009-11-03. http://www.nj.com/hobokennow/index.ssf/2009/11/hoboken_election_roundup_zimme.html. Retrieved 2009-11-03. 
12. ^ "Dawn Zimmer sworn in as mayor of Hoboken". Hoboken Now. 2009-11-06. http://www.nj.com/hobokennow/index.ssf/2009/11/dawn_zimmer_sworn_in_as_mayor.html. Retrieved 2009-11-06. 
13. ^ "About Us". RCDC Corporation. http://www.radiantcut.com/AboutUs.aspx. Retrieved 2009-07-31. 
14. ^ "Odds are next Hoboken mayor will be Jewish". The Jewish State. 2009-05-08. http://thejewishstate.net/may809hchoboken.html. Retrieved 2009-07-31. 

Persondata
Name	Zimmer, Dawn
Alternative names
Short description	Mayor of Hoboken, New jJersey
Date of birth	1968
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death