( CNN ) -- Hoboken , New Jersey , Mayor Dawn Zimmer is again embroiled in a controversy over redevelopment in her community . The first one helped get her elected mayor . The second has added fuel to the fire of scandal consuming the administration of Gov . Chris Christie , a possible presidential candidate . The stakes are high and Zimmer 's right in the middle of it with her allegations the administration conditioned Superstorm Sandy relief money for her town to her support for a redevelopment project proposed by a company with ties to Christie . Zimmer was a little-known Hoboken City Council president when she stepped in as its first female mayor in 2009 after Peter Cammarano was arrested in a pay-to-play scheme . He was convicted on federal charges and jailed . She made her mark in local politics working to stop a high-rise redevelopment plan , a controversy that played out in court . A Democrat , the wife of a diamond manufacturing executive , and the mother of two children , Zimmer was reelected in November . Republicans paint her as one of many partisan opportunists seeking to derail Christie , who appeals to both GOP and Democratic voters in traditionally `` blue '' New Jersey . Her allegations have added a new dimension to allegations of hardball politics gone awry in New Jersey under the leadership of Christie , hailed by many in his own party , and some Democrats , as a straight-shooter and a refreshing change from scripted politics . `` It 's stunning . It 's outrageous . But it 's true , '' Zimmer told CNN 's Candy Crowley on `` State of the Union '' Sunday of her claims that Lt. Gov . Kim Guadagno told her in a parking lot in May that Sandy funds were conditioned on her support for the redevelopment project . Guadango said her dispatch is `` a direct message from the governor , '' Zimmer said . The allegations , denied by Guandango , are the first time an official has connected Christie directly to recent controversies plaguing his administration . Hoboken mayor : 'It 's true ' Christie administration withheld Sandy funds . The turn of events is quite something considering she once tweeted during the Sandy aftermath that she was `` very glad Governor Christie has been our Gov . '' After Sandy , Hoboken was about 80 % underwater . As mayor , Zimmer pleaded for relief and was dismayed when her city received only about $ 300,000 of the roughly $ 100 million in state funds the city requested for flood prevention . Christie spokesman Colin Reed told CNN that Zimmer asked for $ 100 million from a roughly $ 300 million pot of money for which there was $ 14 billion worth of requests . N.J. official calls mayor 's Christie allegations 'false ' Since that request , Reed said Hoboken has been approved for nearly $ 70 million in aid . The city has also been identified as a pilot community for a federal program to prevent flooding , one of only four such projects in New Jersey . Zimmer , however , had a different account of allocated funds . She said the $ 70 million given to Hoboken was through flood insurance and other mechanisms that did not need approval from the state . She received only $ 300,000 in Christie-approved funds , she said . Zimmer 's comments Saturday and Sunday are also a change from what she told CNN the previous week , when she said that while she wondered whether Sandy aid funds were being withheld because she did n't endorse the governor 's re-election , she concluded that `` I do n't think that 's the case . '' `` I do n't think it was retaliation and I do n't have any reason to think it 's retaliation , but I 'm not satisfied with the amount of money I 've gotten so far , '' Zimmer told CNN at the time , not mentioning her concerns about the redevelopment project . But Sunday morning , Zimmer told CNN 's Crowley that she did n't speak out before because she did n't think anyone would believe her , adding that she is now `` offering to testify under oath . '' CNN 's Leigh Ann Caldwell , Chris Frates , Steve Kastenbaum and Cassie Spodak contributed to this report .
Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer 's at the center of political controversy again . Zimmer says her administration conditioned Sandy aid on her for project . Republicans say Zimmer is avoiding partisan politics , supporting Christie . She says she 's just fighting for her water - free city .