Panel: Renew Camden oversight
A bill would extend state control for five more years. The mayor says she is stripped of power.
TRENTON - Over the complaints of the Camden mayor, an Assembly panel yesterday approved renewing state control over the nation's poorest city for another five years.
Under the bill passed 5-1 by the Assembly Housing and Local Government Committee, the term of Camden's state-appointed chief operating officer would be extended through 2012. It is now due to expire in October.
Gov. Corzine has endorsed the extension and has launched a national search to recruit a new chief operating officer.
Assemblywoman Nilsa Cruz-Perez (D., Camden), a sponsor of the bill, said it was crucial to continue efforts to revitalize Camden. "We are on the right path," she said.
But Camden Mayor Gwendolyn Faison told the committee members of poor communication with the state and its interim chief operating officer, Theodore Z. Davis, a former Camden County Superior Court judge.
She complained that the bill continued to strip her power and said Davis was not including her in decisions, contrary to the requirements of the state recovery act.
"My governance may be sacrificed, but I'm still a human being," said an indignant Faison.
She also said she thought the recovery legislation should require more projects that would increase the city's tax base.
Davis, who took over the city in January, did not return a call for comment. Corzine appointed him to the $18,000-a-month interim post to replace Melvin R. "Randy" Primas Jr., who quit in a dustup with his boss, state Community Affairs Commissioner Susan Bass Levin.
While Primas and Faison were close allies, Davis has infuriated the mayor's administration by complaining about the dysfunction of city government.
But his activist style has won many other fans and prompted wide speculation that he may keep the state-paid job through the end of the year or on a permanent basis. "We're hoping he will stay," Cruz-Perez said yesterday.
The act that placed Camden under state oversight in 2002 also included $175 million for projects in the city. Most of that money has been spent or allocated, and the new legislation would not allocate any more.
The bill, cosponsored by Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts (D., Camden), now heads for a full Assembly vote, which Cruz-Perez said she expected later this month. Companion Senate legislation has not yet been introduced.