Camden redevelopment leader gets state job

Former Camden redevelopment czar Arijit De, who left office in 2007 amid controversy, has been hired by the state to assist with school construction projects.

As executive director of the Camden Redevelopment Agency from 2002 to 2007, De was point person for the controversial redevelopment of the Cramer Hill neighborhood, which would have forced the displacement of more than 1,000 families. The plan was dismissed in court.

De resigned shortly after the man who appointed him, Camden Chief Operating Officer Melvin R. "Randy" Primas Jr., quit. While working together, De and Primas also ran a nonprofit group that was paid for transferring land between the Camden Redevelopment Agency and a private developer.

De is earning $62 an hour as a temporary Schools Development Authority employee, according to an authority spokesman. - Matt Katz