Christie may bring major change to Camden
Thursday, November 5th, 2009
By: Elizabeth Fiedler
efiedler@whyy.org
New Jersey voted for change on Tuesday. When Chris Christie is sworn in, he'll be the first Republican governor in eight years. But the fiscal conservative could also mean a major change for the City of Camden.
Listen:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
The state took over control of much of Camden's financial and administrative functions seven years ago, and chipped in substantial state funding along the way. Although that relationship is set to expire in 2012, the state could extend its oversight.
Camden County College history and political science professor John Pesda.
Pesda: The most important question: is the state still going to play this caretaker role? Now if the state doesn't have an Administrator for Camden, I suspect the funding will not be available. I think that Governor-elect Christie as a Republican certainly will look at funding for Camden with a much more critical eye an perhaps Governor Corzine did.
The decision about whether to change the state's role could also depend on the performance of Dana Redd, the city's next mayor.