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.
See bio, click here.
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
Thursday, January 4, 2007
Thursday, December 14, 2006
New Interim COO Has Been Appointed for Camden
The Courier Post has reported that a new interim COO has been appointed for Camden. He is a retired Superior Court Judge. It also looks like he is a Commissioner for the NJ Election Law Enforcement Commission and lives in Camden. Below is his bio from the NJ ELEC website.
Jeff Brenner
THEODORE Z. DAVIS
Commissioner for NJ Election Law Enforcement Commission
Judge Theodore Z. Davis, a retired Superior Court Judge and current member of the law firm of Cozen O’Connor, was initially appointed to the Commission in June, 2004 and reappointed in 2005. A member of the Business and Commercial Litigation Department, Judge Davis is affiliated with this international firm with offices in the United States; Toronto, Canada; and London, England.
Appointed to the Superior Court by Governor Brendan T. Byrne, Commissioner Davis sat on the bench for 22 years until his retirement in 2003. As a Judge, Commissioner Davis was a frequent lecturer at judiciary seminars and seminars held by the State Bar Association. He also has served as Chairman of the New Jersey Supreme Court’s Task Force on Minority Concerns with the judiciary. Prior to his appointment to the Superior Court, Commissioner Davis had practiced corporate law and estate law and spent time as an Assistant City Attorney and Assistant County Prosecutor.
Commissioner Davis is a graduate of the Temple University School of Business and Temple University School of Law. He also was a member of the United States Army Finance Corps and is a veteran of the Korean War. Currently, the Commissioner is a member of the Board of Trustees of Temple University and is also a Trustee of the Temple University Health System.
Judge Davis resides in Camden, New Jersey with his wife Joan. They have one child, Theodore Z. Davis, Jr.
Jeff Brenner
THEODORE Z. DAVIS
Commissioner for NJ Election Law Enforcement Commission
Judge Theodore Z. Davis, a retired Superior Court Judge and current member of the law firm of Cozen O’Connor, was initially appointed to the Commission in June, 2004 and reappointed in 2005. A member of the Business and Commercial Litigation Department, Judge Davis is affiliated with this international firm with offices in the United States; Toronto, Canada; and London, England.
Appointed to the Superior Court by Governor Brendan T. Byrne, Commissioner Davis sat on the bench for 22 years until his retirement in 2003. As a Judge, Commissioner Davis was a frequent lecturer at judiciary seminars and seminars held by the State Bar Association. He also has served as Chairman of the New Jersey Supreme Court’s Task Force on Minority Concerns with the judiciary. Prior to his appointment to the Superior Court, Commissioner Davis had practiced corporate law and estate law and spent time as an Assistant City Attorney and Assistant County Prosecutor.
Commissioner Davis is a graduate of the Temple University School of Business and Temple University School of Law. He also was a member of the United States Army Finance Corps and is a veteran of the Korean War. Currently, the Commissioner is a member of the Board of Trustees of Temple University and is also a Trustee of the Temple University Health System.
Judge Davis resides in Camden, New Jersey with his wife Joan. They have one child, Theodore Z. Davis, Jr.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
State of NJ Unveils COO Job Description
Today, in an exciting development the Governor's Office opened a website for the COO search and unveiled the job description for the new COO. Take a look at:
http://nj.gov/camdencoosearch/job/
The job description is wonderful. Accolades to the Governor's staff, they are clearly beginning to get the picture of what's going on in Camden. Camden needs a COO with a strong background as a public sector manager.
Another interesting note is that the Search Committee is called the Camden COO Advisory Search Committee. This is very smart. The size and diversity of the committee inevitably makes it unsuitable to be overly involved in the implementation of the search process. The high quality candidates that we want to apply for this job are not going to want their names made public until the final steps in the search process. It is critical for the staff to use the committee to set goals and priorities for the search and then review the final tier of candidates. It's important to set clear boundaries and expectation for committee members to understand their role.
A critical question for the Governor's staff to address will be at what point and in what format should the Advisory Search Committee meet the potential candidates. This needs to be well planned. Immediately afterwards the press will have the names of the candidates and the information will be made public.
I'm hearing that the Governor's staff got a taste for the strong personalities and amount of dissension that occurs amongst leaders in Camden. The Mayor unexpectedly showed up in Trenton on the day of the first search committee meeting. Also committee members had a lot of strong opinions about the takeover and the search.
This committee is an important opportunity for Camden leaders to see how a well facilitated, well run committee can do a national search. If this process goes well it can have many positive reprecussion in the years to come as other searches are done for new City Department Directors, etc. The Governor's staff are going out on a limb creating this committee and they deserve a huge amount of credit. They could have done this search behind closed doors and never involved anyone from Camden.
http://nj.gov/camdencoosearch/job/
The job description is wonderful. Accolades to the Governor's staff, they are clearly beginning to get the picture of what's going on in Camden. Camden needs a COO with a strong background as a public sector manager.
Another interesting note is that the Search Committee is called the Camden COO Advisory Search Committee. This is very smart. The size and diversity of the committee inevitably makes it unsuitable to be overly involved in the implementation of the search process. The high quality candidates that we want to apply for this job are not going to want their names made public until the final steps in the search process. It is critical for the staff to use the committee to set goals and priorities for the search and then review the final tier of candidates. It's important to set clear boundaries and expectation for committee members to understand their role.
A critical question for the Governor's staff to address will be at what point and in what format should the Advisory Search Committee meet the potential candidates. This needs to be well planned. Immediately afterwards the press will have the names of the candidates and the information will be made public.
I'm hearing that the Governor's staff got a taste for the strong personalities and amount of dissension that occurs amongst leaders in Camden. The Mayor unexpectedly showed up in Trenton on the day of the first search committee meeting. Also committee members had a lot of strong opinions about the takeover and the search.
This committee is an important opportunity for Camden leaders to see how a well facilitated, well run committee can do a national search. If this process goes well it can have many positive reprecussion in the years to come as other searches are done for new City Department Directors, etc. The Governor's staff are going out on a limb creating this committee and they deserve a huge amount of credit. They could have done this search behind closed doors and never involved anyone from Camden.
Thursday, December 7, 2006
Bad News, We're Doomed to Repeat the Cycle of Police Reforms
I learned today that the last staff member in the NJ Attorney General's Office with long term experience on Camden Police Department Reform issues is being layed off. This is a disaster for Camden. We have a newly appointed Supersession Executive Arturo Venegas who is doing a great job. He is going to need the continued support of the Attorney General's Office to get the job done down here.
New staff in NJ State bureaucracies underestimate the mess in Camden. They don't realize how deep, widespread, complicated, and interconnected the mess is in the public bureaucracy in Camden. This is why the State Attorney General's Office has been "reforming" the Camden Police Deparment for 30 years.
Take a look at all the wonderful audits they've done year after year only to watch the mess get worse. It takes long term sustained efforts to improve Camden. Replacing staff before the job is done is crazy. See http://www.camconnect.org/resources/CamdenPD.htm
Also, the State of New Jersey had hired the Police Institute in Newark and Bob Wasserman an internationally recognized consultant on police department organizational reform. They worked for over 2 years to analyze the department and help to make changes. They wrote the report from the Blue Ribbon Police Reform Commission. They helped to recruit Arturo Venegas to run the Camden Police Department. They have all been let go as well.
There is $1,500,000 earmarked in the 2006-2007 NJ State Budget for Camden public safety work. See http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2006/Bills/AL06/45_.PDF page 141. What is the money being used for? Can you say OPRA! I think it's time for an OPRA request!
We're the 5th most dangerous City in the Country this year. We could easily move back to #1. The Division of Community Affairs has moved to the forefront on Camden issues. They need to stay focused on Public Safety and keep the staff member and consultant who are or have already moved on. There is too much progress that has been made and too much at stake.
Okay newspaper editorial boards where are you? Let's not backtrack on the progress we've made on public safety.
New staff in NJ State bureaucracies underestimate the mess in Camden. They don't realize how deep, widespread, complicated, and interconnected the mess is in the public bureaucracy in Camden. This is why the State Attorney General's Office has been "reforming" the Camden Police Deparment for 30 years.
Take a look at all the wonderful audits they've done year after year only to watch the mess get worse. It takes long term sustained efforts to improve Camden. Replacing staff before the job is done is crazy. See http://www.camconnect.org/resources/CamdenPD.htm
Also, the State of New Jersey had hired the Police Institute in Newark and Bob Wasserman an internationally recognized consultant on police department organizational reform. They worked for over 2 years to analyze the department and help to make changes. They wrote the report from the Blue Ribbon Police Reform Commission. They helped to recruit Arturo Venegas to run the Camden Police Department. They have all been let go as well.
There is $1,500,000 earmarked in the 2006-2007 NJ State Budget for Camden public safety work. See http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2006/Bills/AL06/45_.PDF page 141. What is the money being used for? Can you say OPRA! I think it's time for an OPRA request!
We're the 5th most dangerous City in the Country this year. We could easily move back to #1. The Division of Community Affairs has moved to the forefront on Camden issues. They need to stay focused on Public Safety and keep the staff member and consultant who are or have already moved on. There is too much progress that has been made and too much at stake.
Okay newspaper editorial boards where are you? Let's not backtrack on the progress we've made on public safety.
Camden School District Superintendent Search
Somehow it doesn't seem like they wanted widespread attendance at this meeting since it was announced in the papers on the same day it was being held. See the small article below.
Hey come to our really important public meeting it's staring in a couple of hours. We know you've got dinner to cook, kids to feed, etc but drop everything you are doing.
Does anyone have any faith in the current leadership of the Camden School Board to lead this search? Maybe the most important criteria should be: significant leadership exerperience as a superintendent in another school district. Perhaps that's asking too much. Superintendent Knox found Camden to be a great training ground for her first job as a Superintendent.
The biggest news today is that the bill creating powerful offices of a County School Superintendent is moving forward. This is great news. Much like the role that the Camden County Prosecutor has played over the Camden Police Department we will have some local oversight over the Camden School District.
It is very difficult for state bureacrats to get their hands around the mess in Camden. It takes too many years of sustained work. Ultimately a County Superintendent might have more luck.
Jeff Brenner
Courier Post Thursday, December 7th, 2006
INSTANT OPINION
OFF TO THE RIGHT START
Opinion by the Courier-Post Editorial Board
Camden School District's effort to reach out to the public already proves it's on the right path after the woeful reign of Annette Knox.
Knox proved time and again she had little interest in what district parents wanted and what was on their minds. This created an adversarial relationship even though both sides had the same goal -- the full education of Camden's children.
The next superintendent needs to be willing and able to listen to residents. And we're glad to see the district appears to agree.
NEWS UPDATE e-mail newsletter
Camden seeks input on superintendent
The Camden School District will hold a community input meeting tonight to set criteria for its search of a new superintendent of schools.
The event is set for 6:30 p.m. at the Brimm Medical Arts High School, 1626 Copewood St. in Camden.
Previous superintendent Annette Knox left this year under a cloud of questions.
Published: December 07. 2006 8:14AM
Hey come to our really important public meeting it's staring in a couple of hours. We know you've got dinner to cook, kids to feed, etc but drop everything you are doing.
Does anyone have any faith in the current leadership of the Camden School Board to lead this search? Maybe the most important criteria should be: significant leadership exerperience as a superintendent in another school district. Perhaps that's asking too much. Superintendent Knox found Camden to be a great training ground for her first job as a Superintendent.
The biggest news today is that the bill creating powerful offices of a County School Superintendent is moving forward. This is great news. Much like the role that the Camden County Prosecutor has played over the Camden Police Department we will have some local oversight over the Camden School District.
It is very difficult for state bureacrats to get their hands around the mess in Camden. It takes too many years of sustained work. Ultimately a County Superintendent might have more luck.
Jeff Brenner
Courier Post Thursday, December 7th, 2006
INSTANT OPINION
OFF TO THE RIGHT START
Opinion by the Courier-Post Editorial Board
Camden School District's effort to reach out to the public already proves it's on the right path after the woeful reign of Annette Knox.
Knox proved time and again she had little interest in what district parents wanted and what was on their minds. This created an adversarial relationship even though both sides had the same goal -- the full education of Camden's children.
The next superintendent needs to be willing and able to listen to residents. And we're glad to see the district appears to agree.
NEWS UPDATE e-mail newsletter
Camden seeks input on superintendent
The Camden School District will hold a community input meeting tonight to set criteria for its search of a new superintendent of schools.
The event is set for 6:30 p.m. at the Brimm Medical Arts High School, 1626 Copewood St. in Camden.
Previous superintendent Annette Knox left this year under a cloud of questions.
Published: December 07. 2006 8:14AM
1st Meeting of the Search Committee Today
The COO Search Committee had its first meeting in Trenton today. We wait to hear word on how it went. With such a large and diverse group its going to take some time to get anything done. Hopefully the NJ State staff members will keep the meetings moving along.
Monday, December 4, 2006
3 new members added to COO search committee
It's official, 2 new members have been added to the COO search committee.
1. Carmen Ubarry-Rivera
2. Israel Nieves
See Courier Post article today, click here.
http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006612040364
1. Carmen Ubarry-Rivera
2. Israel Nieves
See Courier Post article today, click here.
http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006612040364
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
