Camden's in Christie's Hands

November 08, 2009  |  Courier Post  |  Link to article

When Chris Christie came to Camden last month, the GOP gubernatorial candidate acknowledged he might look like an outsider.

"There will be some people who will say I must be lost to come here," Christie told a largely minority audience in a church on a rundown stretch of Kaighn Avenue.

But, he went on, "I'm not a visitor here tonight."

During seven years as the state's U.S. attorney, Christie noted, he kept an office in this crime-ridden city.

"In a much smaller measure than you have, I lived here," he asserted.

Now, as governor-elect, Christie could have a powerful presence in Camden. And based on his campaign comments, the next governor will take a very different approach to key issues -- including the state's role in Camden's government, its redevelopment efforts and its troubled schools.

In his speech, Christie admitted Republicans are rare in Camden. Indeed, only 96 city residents voted in the GOP primary in June -- 55 for Christie.

"I don't expect on Nov. 3 to win this city," he predicted accurately. "But I expect over the next four years to win this city."

Whether that happens will depend largely on what Christie accomplishes and how he interacts with the city's power base, including Dana Redd, the Democratic mayor-elect.

"The city of Camden will need everyone pulling in the same direction in order for it to have a chance to succeed," said outgoing Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts, a city Democrat.

Local leaders note they agree with the governor-elect on some key issues, such as giving more autonomy to the city's elected officials and its police.

But some expect less sympathy for new projects and possible cuts in state aid under Christie. They also think he's unlikely to kill plans already in progress and that he won't ignore the state's most troubled city.

"I don't see how the state could just walk away." said the Rev. Willie Anderson, chairman of Camden Churches Organized for People, the nonpartisan group that hosted Christie's appearance. "The city can't support itself. If he cuts Camden off, Camden would fold."

Christie offered few specifics in a campaign that called for change in New Jersey. But here's an overview of what's likely in some pivotal areas:

State oversight of Camden: While Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine pledged to appoint a new overseer for the city, Christie wants to end the state-run turnaround program that's curbed the power of Camden's mayor, council and municipal boards.

He's also vowed to return power to the city's mayor in an undefined "partnership" with the state.

"You are living every day the ramifications of the failure of your government," Christie told members of CCOP, which pushed for the recovery program. "You should be able to hold them to account for those failures."

And while Corzine defended the state's infusion of $175 million into the turnaround effort, Christie questioned the value both of that investment and of state oversight.

"We're all still waiting for the promise of the Camden recovery act," he said.

The takeover effort, launched by a state law in 2002, is set to continue until 2012. Under the program, Camden's most powerful official is the state-appointed chief operating officer.

But influential Democrats also want the state to ease its grip, particularly since former COO Theodore Davis retired unexpectedly in August. The city now has an interim COO, Albertha Hyche of the state Treasury Department.

"The timing is right with a newly elected mayor to have a transition," said Roberts. He also noted the turnaround aid is largely spoken for, "so it's time for Camden to be treated like any other city."

Roberts, a sponsor of the 2002 measure, said he hopes to draft changes to the law before leaving the Assembly year-end. Roberts, who said he'd meet with Christie to hear his ideas, said he hasn't decided whether he'll propose changing the COO's role or ending it.

The speaker said state involvement is still needed to ensure the city government runs efficiently and spends responsibly. But that could be handled by requiring performance reports, he said, or by sending advisors from the state Department of Community Affairs.

"There's some wins that could come out of this," said Redd, who expressed optimism that she and Christie would work together for Camden's benefit. "I don't want to focus on the negatives. We need to move forward. And I will work with whomever to make the city better."

The state likely will retain influence in Camden because of its financial stake in the city, said Anderson. In the past fiscal year, state aid funded nearly 70 percent of the city's $164.6 million budget.

"Were I governor, I would not continue to turn over hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to the city without having some say in how that money was being spent," Anderson said.

Education: Christie has blistered the city's struggling school system, saying it wastes the money of taxpayers and the lives of its students.

"If you want to be honest, let's admit failure," he said. "We've all failed these children."

Christie has indicated he'll try to maneuver around entrenched educational powers -- notably the teachers' union -- by promoting charter schools and pushing for tuition vouchers.

"The willingness of this state to accept failure in our school system is obscene," he said. "The failing schools must change or they must go extinct."

He also argued the city's schools fuel violence by sending poorly educated youngsters onto the streets.

"None of them said, "When I grow up, I want to have no hope,' " he said of city schoolchildren. "Children without hope believe their only hope lies at the end of a gun."

Public safety: Christie has called for the city to end gun violence but hasn't discussed the state's likely role in that effort.

Camden's police department was put under state supervision since 2004 -- a move that Christie said he opposed on the grounds that local government should solve its own problems.

Police Chief Scott Thomson and other administrators have praised the state's role. They say Attorney General Anne Milgram's office helped with the recent acquisition of 25 squad cars and the planned hiring of about 75 officers for the depleted force.

But some officers and Councilman Gilbert "Whip" Wilson, a former lieutenant, said they would like to see more autonomy. Officers working in Camden every day know best how to handle the city's crime, Wilson said.

Redevelopment: Christie has said efforts to upgrade the downtown Waterfront will be undermined as long as Camden's neighborhoods remain unsafe and ill-schooled.

He's proposed a system, called CityTrak, that's meant to gauge the progress of programs focused on education, economic development and crime.

"If a program isn't working, we'll get rid of it."

He also wants an income-tax break for new residents in targeted urban areas, a tactic he contends will reverse a population drain and promote market-rate housing.

But of 11 measures listed under his "Bringing Back Our Cities" platform, seven seek to combat crime -- either through tougher penalties for convicted or suspected wrongdoers or through anti-gang and other safe-street programs.

Christie also said he disagreed with the ongoing plan to raze Riverfront State Prison, a facility built only 24 years ago, to clear land for redevelopment in North Camden.

But North Camden activist Rod Sadler said he believed the governor-elect would allow it to proceed because the plans had already been set in motion.

"Now the future, that's up for grabs," Sadler said. "I'm hoping he will view this as an opportunity to do better than his predecessor."

The Capitol Connection: It's not clear whether Camden can count on having friends throughout the Christie administration.

The city had the benefit of "a ready ear for all sorts of projects" under the past two Democratic governors, said Richard Harris, a professor of political science at Rutgers-Camden. Whether that continues will depend on the views of Christie's cabinet members, particularly his attorney general and the commissioners of Education and Community Affairs.

But Camden will have strong advocates in the Legislature, so "Christie will have to pick his fights," Harris said.

Two Camden residents -- Democrats Donald Norcross and Angel Fuentes -- have just been elected to Assembly seats for the 5th District.

Norcross is a co-chairman of the powerful Camden County Democrats, an organization that previously has helped steer state aid to Camden for hospital expansion and other improvements.

Fuentes, a longtime city councilman, said he'll work to preserve resources already promised to Camden. Christie "knows that he has to deal with a Democratic (Legislature), so there will be some negotiations going back and forth," Fuentes said.\