N.J. reviewing approval of Camden official's salary

The salary of Camden's chief operating officer, the highest-salaried state employee, is being reviewed by the New Jersey Attorney General's Office because of questions about how the money was approved, officials said yesterday.

The disclosure about the $220,000 salary came at a meeting of the state Economic Recovery Board, which was mandated to approve the salary 20 months ago, when Theodore Z. Davis was appointed to the position by Gov. Corzine.

The board, however, wasn't presented with the salary proposal until last month.

Board member Rosa Ramirez said it was "dumped in our laps," and she and other Camden residents who serve on the board have effectively killed the prospect of its passing.

That means the salary could be seen as illegal according to the law, and the state would have to either find another way to formalize it or offer another salary proposal to the ERB. It is unclear how this would affect the more than $350,000 Davis has collected.

The Attorney General's Office confirmed the matter was under review after an ERB official informed members yesterday. The amount of the salary is not being reviewed, just the way it was approved.

A 2002 law puts most of Camden's operations under a gubernatorially appointed COO. But the salary and benefits, although they are paid by the state, must be "fixed" by the ERB.

It is not clear why state officials did not bring the salary proposal to the board when Davis went from his $18,000-per-month position as "interim" COO to permanent COO in September 2007.

Regardless, the salary has become controversial. It is more than double the $103,000 mayoral salary, and tens of thousands of dollars more than the salaries of top state officials.

Across the Delaware River, Mayor Nutter recently took a 10 percent pay cut, to $167,436.

In Camden, police officers, firefighters, and City Hall workers have written Davis' salary on signs used at rallies, and state Republicans have denounced it as wasteful.

This is a gubernatorial election year in a poor economic climate, and some ERB members said they were being used as a tool to approve the salary retroactively in order to provide political cover to others.

Three ERB members said a high-level elected state official even personally called members to tell them to vote for the salary.

"They said let the ERB vote for this, and then they can take all the heat from the city of Camden," said Ramirez, a Camden resident who said she received one such call.

Rodney Sadler, another resident and ERB member, put it this way: "It's an election year . . . put it on the local folks who don't know any better."

Outgoing Mayor Gwendolyn Faison, who sits on the ERB, called the situation "disrespectful" at yesterday's meeting.

"This should be settled by the state," Faison said. "It shouldn't be discussed here."

Ramirez added: "Go back and tell Mr. Corzine that he made a mistake."

Ramirez said she wanted to hear back from state officials about how this is settled, because "I have a right to know as a citizen of the state of New Jersey."

A spokesman for Corzine did not return a call for comment.

The previous chief operating officer, Randy Primas, earned $175,000 annually. His salary was approved at the first ERB meeting in 2002, according to meeting minutes.

Davis, a former judge, has said he could have earned far more in the private sector but instead took the position in the city where he lives. He said he negotiated his salary with the governor's office. Davis also earns a monthly $9,776 pension from his time in the judiciary.

With a small smile on his face, Davis sat silently as members discussed his salary at yesterday's meeting.

Assemblyman Joseph Malone (R., Burlington) said this was another example "that things aren't done the way they should be done" when it came to Camden.

"It's toxic," he said. "Is somebody going to go back and put in a bill that approves his past salary that was not legitimately paid? The Legislature does a lot of crazy stuff."