Camden Vital Statistics workers swamped after losing staff

The waiting area of Camden's Office of Vital Statistics was bustling with grandmothers, parents pushing newborns in strollers, and others trying to obtain copies of essential birth, death, and marriage certificates.

"Can you get the lady that just walked out?" Jazmin Rodriguez-Ramos yelled from behind the service counter as she waved a piece of paper.

"The woman in blue?" asked a newly arrived customer.

Rodriguez-Ramos let out an exasperated sigh. Between the stream of patrons, the ringing phones, and the pile of certificates she knew needed to be filed, she could be forgiven for failing to notice the color of an outfit.

The Office of Vital Statistics, which is expected to gross more than $400,000 in revenue this fiscal year, is operating with half its budgeted staff. Birth certificates mailed from hospitals are filed manually, and the backlog is growing.

Deputy Registrar Maria Vazquez and Alternate Deputy Patrice McCarthy are the only employees permanently assigned to Vital Statistics. Though most patrons walk away with the certificate they need that same day, the women have not gotten to June or July filings. They are still trying to catch up on December.

To help make some progress, the office is no longer open to the public on Thursday afternoons.

Every day, said McCarthy, "we would close for lunch and come back and there would be a huge line outside." To cope, the midday break was eliminated.

Vital Statistics lost half of its four-member staff at the start of the year, said Luis Pastoriza, Camden's municipal clerk, who oversees its operation. City Council secretaries, such as Rodriguez-Ramos, and employees from the Office of the Municipal Clerk fill in.

"Sometimes we have to close this office," Rodriguez-Ramos said, referring to City Council's main office, to staff Vital Statistics because it's "the one that is making the money."

Vital Statistics had generated close to $300,000 annually. A doubling of fees in March - $20 for copies of birth, marriage, and death certificates - is expected to increase that amount by at least $100,000 in the current fiscal year, Pastoriza said.

Pastoriza and City Council members asked the administration in March to fill the two vacancies. Mayor Dana L. Redd wrote the state Department of Community Affairs (DCA) in April and asked for approval to make those hires and another in the Municipal Clerk's Office.

The Vital Statistics vacancies were not a result of layoffs. One longtime employee, Contrina Ebron, died in mid-December. And Damaris Martinez relocated to Texas after her husband, who was laid off from the Police Department in January, found a job there.

"These positions are immediately needed to maintain an effective minimum staffing level for an office that is a significant revenue generator for the city," Redd wrote in her April 11 letter to DCA.

The request is "under review" by the state, a department spokeswoman said this week. Requests to fill police and fire positions, including the recently hired police director, take precedence, she said.

Yet eight people have been hired in City Hall since January, according to city records. Two joined the mayor's office, one went to administration, and five went to the Finance Department. Some of the hires got swift approval by the DCA.

One of the biggest frustrations for Pastoriza is that the salaries of Ebron and Martinez were budgeted. Though their salaries were not immediately available, the mayor's application to DCA said new hires would earn between $24,483 and $32,806.

Money allocated for a salary goes to the city's general fund if the employee departs, said city spokesman Robert Corrales.

At the last two Council meetings, Council President Frank Moran asked city administrators why Vital Statistics had been left waiting.

"We fulfilled our obligation," Corrales said Wednesday, referring to Redd's letter. "We are just waiting for approval."

The state Department of Health and Senior Services requires municipalities to have at least one registrar in its office of vital statistics. That person, which in Camden's case is the municipal clerk, may name a deputy and alternates as needed for the office to function efficiently, according to department spokeswoman Dawn Thomas.

Sub-registrars can receive certificates of births and deaths, issue burial permits, and review documentation. They can also have clerical help, Thomas said.

On Tuesday, Council passed a resolution requesting that the administration and DCA "prioritize and expedite" approval of the hires in Vital Statistics and the Municipal Clerk's Office.

In the meantime, Council secretaries and city clerk employees fill in at the Office of Vital Statistics when either Vazquez or McCarthy is ill or on vacation - or when the office is simply overwhelmed.

"You can't have just one person," Pastoriza said.

On a recent day, Yenise Valdez - a data-control clerk in the Municipal Clerk's office - left her regular duties so McCarthy could grab a quick lunch. Rodriguez-Ramos filled in for Vazquez, who was sick.

As people continued to arrive, the sound of ringing was near-constant. "We can't even get to the phones," Rodriguez-Ramos said.

McCarthy reached into a small office refrigerator and pulled out her second large Dunkin' Donuts iced coffee of the day. It was only noon.

"I'm stocked up," she said, and took another hit of caffeine.