Four Council seats on the ballot in Camden

In Camden, four Council seats are on the ballot this fall, with three incumbents vying to keep their seats.

Challengers in the three contested wards are playing up the city's high unemployment rate and the recent increase in property taxes. All three are unemployed.

In Ward 1, which covers Waterfront South and Lanning Square, incumbent Dana Burley will face Republican Edward D. Torres.

Burley, 46, a state Assembly clerk, said she wanted to continue serving the city where she grew up. "I want to bring back stability and improve quality of life," she said.

Torres, 47, has a real estate license but has been unemployed since midsummer. He said he hoped that if he was elected, the city could pass a residency requirement for all public service jobs.

"Camden residents like to work" and should have more job opportunities, he said. Camden's unemployment rate is 19 percent, according to the state Department of Labor.

A Republican for less than 10 years, Torres said this race - his third - would be his last for Council if he loses. He said he was disheartened to see that even though people say they want change, they still vote for same candidates.

Political parties are "like the Bloods and Crips," he said. "They don't care what blue is doing, they will still wear blue."

Council President Frank Moran, 43, will face the Rev. Clyde Cook, 36, in Ward 3. Milton Milan Jr., 24, who had registered as an independent, dropped out of the race. Neither Milan or Moran could be reached for comment.

Cook, who was fired from his job at Village of Timber Creek in Lindenwold because of allegations that he was campaigning during work time, runs Better Life Ministry out of his East Camden home.

This is his third campaign for Council. He lost last year to Councilwoman Deborah Person-Polk in an at-large race.

Cook, a lifelong Democrat, moved to Camden with his wife and children 10 years ago from Eastampton after becoming homeless because at the time Camden was the most affordable place.

He then started his ministry as a way to get involved in his community. He ran for Council for the first time in 2009 as an independent but, lacking a solid base, he said, his campaign went nowhere.

If elected, Cook said he wants to transform Camden the way Harlem has changed: working block by block.

Moran, Camden County's director of public works, has served on Council since a 1997 special election to replace Milton Milan Sr., who was elected mayor that year.

In Ward 4, incumbent Luis Lopez, 51, who works at the county Division of Senior and Disabled Citizens' Services, will face Mary Cortes, 56, who is running as an independent.

Lopez was selected in February 2010 to fill the seat of former Council President Angel Fuentes, who was elected to the Assembly in November. Lopez previously served on the school board for seven years.

If reelected, Lopez wants to work on ordinances that will improve safety and quality of life of city residents, keep property taxes at a minimum, and have a transparent governing body.

Cortes, who said she tutors children and helps people with odd jobs, has focused her campaign on stabilizing home ownership in Camden.

For the last few months, Cortes has been protesting the city's reassessment of properties, which led to an increase in some people's property taxes.

"It's going to be a ghost town," she said, adding that if elected to Council she will work to "not lose our properties."

She also wants to create more jobs in the city, even if it's opening up a small storefront to sell school uniforms, she said.

"Teach a person how to sew," she said.

The election in Ward 2, which encompasses Parkside and Centerville, is decided since no one is challenging Brian Coleman, who is running under the Camden County Democratic Committee's banner. Coleman beat fellow Democrat Elton Custis in the primary and will fill Bill Spearman's vacant seat.

Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Nov. 8.