CCOP in The Economist

Camden's crisis

Ungovernable?
Nov 26th 2009 | CAMDEN, NEW JERSEY
From The Economist print edition

The state may have failed the city it took over

ROSA RAMIREZ is an active member of Camden Churches Organised for People (CCOP), a large and powerful civic group in Camden, New Jersey. She complains that rubbish is not collected. She worries about drug dealers hanging out on street corners and in the city’s many abandoned buildings. But when her daughter, who lives in the suburbs, begs her to leave, Ms Ramirez replies, “How can I leave? Camden needs me.” It does. Not enough people care about this city of 79,000 people that lies in the shadow of Philadelphia.

Hopes rose seven years ago, when the state took over the post-industrial city. The inept municipal government was struggling to provide even the most basic service. Poor management and lack of resources meant possibly waiting hours for police to respond to calls. Corruption was rampant: three former mayors ended up in jail. Camden was given $175m in bonds and loans and in return the state was given municipal authority over the city. The governor appointed a chief operating officer who could veto decisions made by the mayor and the city council. The state also took over the abysmal school district and, in 2005, the police department. Much of the money went to big urban development projects. The waterfront, with its fantastic views of the Philadelphia skyline, was given particular attention. Hospitals and universities in the area received money to expand and more than $1 billion was leveraged in private investments.

But the city’s districts, many blighted with abandoned buildings, did not get much cash. In the Cramer Hill district Brother Jerry Hudson of the St Anthony of Padua church talks about the run-down place next door to the parish school. Although the city had boarded it up, vandals routinely broke in. It became a den for drugs and prostitution. Though many such buildings have been demolished, Brother Jerry reckons there are just as many now as there were in 2002.

Camden had the highest crime rate in the country in 2008, according to CQ Press, with 2,333 violent crimes for every 100,000 people. The national average is 455. Camden spends $17,000 per child on education, yet only two thirds complete school. Two out of five people live below the poverty line. The Philadelphia Inquirer recently summed up a series on Camden by saying that “residents are just as poor today and just as likely to be murdered. They are just as unemployed…And the city is twice as reliant on state taxpayers as before.”

Little wonder then, that Chris Christie, the governor-elect of New Jersey, has called the state takeover a “failed experiment”. He hopes to return control to the city, perhaps even before the takeover expires in 2012. But not everyone feels the city is ready. One former chief operating officer predicted it would stay under state control until 2030. As there is no tax base to support city services, Camden would still have to depend on the state for funding. But New Jersey is struggling to balance its own books, and it is not alone: less state support can be expected all over the country, just when cities most need help. The National League of Cities has found that 88% of city finance officers are less able to meet fiscal needs this year.

But there is some good news. Crime is down 13% this year so far. Murders have fallen by 38%, while shootings are down 18%. Big construction projects at Rutgers University and Cooper University Hospital are under way. Tom Corcoran, the former head of the Cooper Ferry Development Association, thinks that if the city can lower crime and improve schools, it can turn around. He thinks the waterfront is key: the city has 15 miles of it, though only 10% is accessible to the public.

Ms Ramirez is typical. She thinks the state is doing a bad job, but she also worries that the city will fall apart without it. “It’s in Christie’s hands,” she says. “If he can figure it out, he would be a hero.”