Camden chief: Extend state control until 2030

The Gov. Corzine-appointed chief operating officer of Camden has recommended that the city remain under state control until about 2030, saying the local elected politicians don't have the "guts" to make unpopular decisions.

City politicians, who have little power under Camden's unusual system of government, said they were shocked by the suggestion, which was contained in a report made public yesterday.

The idea that Camden should remain under state jurisdiction for two more decades also angered residents, who have likened control of the city to a dictatorship.

The extraordinary 2002 takeover of Camden was originally supposed to last five years, but it was renewed by Corzine and the state legislature in 2007. Theodore Z. Davis, a retired judge and city resident, was then appointed as the second chief operating officer.

Davis' report said that the need for continued state control was partly due to a "mountain of negativity" about Camden, created by the media, that had damaged outsiders' perceptions.

He detailed how the city, among the poorest and most dangerous in the country, has an overwhelmed court system, an undermanned police force, an underequipped fire department, and so few public works employees that city "lots and buildings cannot be adequately maintained."

But, Davis said, there was progress on the economic-recovery front, with redevelopment plans initiated in several neighborhoods and a greatly expanded university and hospital presence downtown. New jobs and new housing units are coming into the city, he said, and there is more financial accountability.

Davis' report to the state Local Finance Board is mandated under the 2002 Municipal Rehabilitation and Recovery Act, which put Camden under state control for five years and funneled $175 million in grants and loans to the city. The 2007 extension moved the recovery term to 2012, with an option to go to 2017.

Under the law, the chief operating officer can make appointments, introduce ordinances, and veto the decisions of city bodies, including City Council and the mayor's office. Few cities in American history have lost such self-government.

The chief operating officer is mandated to file a progress report to the state twice yearly, but Davis has said he interprets "biannual" to mean once every two years, and that's why he filed it now, 21/2 years after his appointment.

Davis' predecessor, Melvin "Randy" Primas Jr., never filed a biannual report. The Department of Community Affairs, which is in charge of collecting these reports, has said that it gets adequate information from Davis when he makes a yearly presentation to the state to ask for extra aid.

The 54-page report was dated July 9 and provided by the department yesterday. Camden's mayor and council president said that they were unaware of the report.

"You can't rebuild a city in five or 10 years. It just can't be done," Davis said in an interview yesterday. "Progress can be made, but it can't be completely accomplished."

Davis said the city has a $3 million deficit in its water and sewer fund because for 15 years Camden's politicians were unwilling to "bite the bullet" and raise rates. Now that he has raised rates, the deficit will soon close, he said.

"If you don't have the guts to make decisions, what can I do?" he asked in the interview. "You use the [recovery law] to put it into place. That protects the citizens in Camden."

Davis said that his primary goal was to increase the number of taxable businesses, known as ratables, so the city would become less dependent on state aid.

But state aid to the city and its schools, which also fall under state control, has increased since the takeover. Davis said this was because of labor contracts previously signed by politicians.

"Somebody has to be here to be a little more prudent and financially aware of how to run a city," Davis said.

Politicians, he said, "get afraid, so nothing gets done."

Robert Corrales, a Corzine spokesman, said that the governor's office would review the report. The sponsor of the Camden takeover law, Assembly Speaker Joseph J. Roberts Jr. (D., Camden), did not return a request for comment that was relayed to him by an aide.

Dana Redd, who is a state senator, city councilwoman, and the Democratic nominee for Camden mayor in the November election, said through a spokesman that she had no comment about the report or the possibility of lengthy state control.

But Roberto Feliz, another mayoral candidate, called Davis' recommendation "absurd."

"It turns democracy on its head," said Feliz, an independent. "People need to decide who their leaders are. . . . Why not just dissolve all the municipalities in the country? It just doesn't make sense."

Mujiba Salaam Parker, also an independent candidate, said she was able to make the "tough decisions" because she was not beholden to party bosses. She said the takeover should end in 2012, as scheduled.

"The recovery of the city will take probably another 15 or 20 years, but it doesn't mean that a chief operating officer should be the one in charge," Parker said.

In his report, Davis blasted the "relentless media attention to any negative fact that can be found and the total and intentional disregard of the many positive factors that have occurred over the past four decades."

The resulting perception, he said, "is one that will be difficult to traverse in the legislatively prescribed ten year period of time. A more reasonable estimate would be in excess of fifteen to twenty years."

During a phone interview yesterday, Davis said he specifically didn't understand why there had been so many articles detailing his $220,000 salary, the highest of any state employee.

Asked if he had seen a recent, upbeat Inquirer article about plans for a new Puerto Rican community center in Camden paid for with recovery money and designed by a Camden native, Davis said: "I don't read the papers."

Asked how he knew that coverage by the press hasn't been balanced, he said: "I have staff."

He also rejected the idea that residents' democratic rights were being undermined.

"It does not take away from the mayor or council the power to submit good legislation, the power to submit good ideas, the power to negotiate contracts fairly for the protection of the people," he said. "It does protect [against] incompetency."

Mayor Gwendolyn Faison, who supported the takeover when it was approved 18 months into her first term, said she was now ready to challenge the law in court.

"[During] the years I've tolerated it. My constitutional rights have been violated, and I believe the people have been disenfranchised," said Faison, who will retire after this year. "I don't think any other mayor would have taken what I've been through."

"We're in a worse situation than we were before the state takeover," said resident Marianna Emanuele. "I don't think 15 or 20 more years of oppressiveness of this small city is going to do much good."