Arijit De, Head of the Camden Redevelopment Agency Resigns

The Courier Post just broke a story that Arijit De, the Head of the Camden Redevelopment Agency has resigned. The new interim Director will be a University of Pennsylvania professor, John Kromer. This is great news! John Kromer is very experienced and will make a fantastic interim director. Governor Corzine and his staff keep making one good decision after another in Camden. Someone up in Trenton definitely seems to be paying attention to the problems in Camden.

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Camden redevelopment chief quits

By ALAN GUENTHER
Courier-Post Staff

CAMDEN
Arijit De, architect of Camden's ambitious but stalled urban renewal plans, resigned today from his $125,000 a year position as executive director of the Camden Redevelopment Agency, the Courier-Post has learned.

For the past four years, De was both a lightning rod for controversy and a passionate believer in the city's ability to recover from decades of economic decline.

He championed billion-dollar plans that would have required thousands of city residents to surrender their older homes to make way for new development.

The city's interim Chief Operating Officer Theodore Davis confirmed De resigned today. Davis said he believes the resignation is effective Jan. 15.

De will be replaced, on an interim basis, by John Kromer, a senior consultant for the Fels Institute at the University of Pennsylvania.

As he leaves the post, some credited De for believing so deeply in the city that he worked for six months without salary when he was first hired, while legal and contractual issues were resolved.

But others complained that De and Randy Primas, the city's former chief operating officer who resigned late last year, did not seek input from residents before announcing sweeping plans.

"That's what irritated people about both Randy Primas and Arijit De. They were arrogant and did not listen to people. They patronized people," said Roy Jones, co-chair of the South Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance and a city activist for 38 years.

At least four plans, including a controversial proposal to rebuild the city's largely Hispanic Cramer Hill neighborhood, have been stalled by court challenges and community opposition. The Cramer Hill plan would have relocated more than 1,200 families while building 6,000 new homes in the city.

De, who came to the Redevelopment Agency in 2002 after shepherding the construction of the highly praised Baldwin's Run development for Camden's housing authority, did not respond to interview requests. He often expressed exasperation that people would not believe that they would be better off if his plans for rebuilding the city moved forward.

"Certainly people will be unhappy if they need to move. I understand that," De told the Courier-Post last year as the Cramer Hill plan was being debated. "But what's the alternative? To do nothing? That's unacceptable."

Carmen Ubarry-Rivera, president of the Cramer Hill Residents Association, said De was unwilling to search for compromise solutions.

"I look forward to working with the new people," said Ubarry-Rivera, who is on the 18-member national search committee to find a new leader for Camden to replace Primas. "I hope they understand the importance of residents' input."

Caren Franzini, head of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, said she expected Kromer to work with Camden on an interim basis while a search is conducted to replace De. Franzini said her organization would vote next week to pay Kromer between $50,000 and $80,000 during the transition period.

The state currently controls the city government. Under state takeover legislation approved in 2002, Primas and De were given sweeping powers to rebuild the city. Franzini said they made "a great team."

"I've been speaking to Arijit over the past month or so since Randy decided to leave," she said. "I think they made some good changes in planning and development for the city.

"But Arijit also realized it was time for him to move on," she said, adding that she didn't know what he would do next.


Reach Alan Guenther at (856) 317-7871 or aguenther@courierpostonline.com
Published: January 04. 2007 8:01PM