Last night, Rutgers-Camden hosted the State of the City. 

This was progress. Over the past few years I’ve joined in the tradition of criticizing the State of the City for being held at a private event (The Coopers Ferry Annual Meeting) at a price point that prohibited residents from attending ($125). Coopers Ferry insisted that residents could get free tickets, but when I referred residents to the nonprofit, they were told that tickets to residents were distributed through community organizations. When I (as a resident), personally, attempted to get tickets through Cooper’s Ferry, I was told tickets had been given to my neighborhood association (the Cooper Grant Neighborhood Association). But the association was only given 4 tickets, which, naturally, were going to the board. This was not an accessible event. 

So it was great to see the address be free this year, with over 300 people attending. It may seem like a low bar to have the Mayor’s address be open to the public, but it hasn’t been the case in the past. 

Here is the speech (we are having some technical problems with the videos, here are links to Part I and Part II of the Mayor’s speech): 

If you’ve attended one of these previously, you’ll recognize the familiar pattern. They involve a lot of clapping for politicians in the audience, a giant list of accomplishments and money coming to the city, and some thoughts on the theme. 

The speech was extremely similar to that given at the Cooper’s Ferry Annual Meeting (tickets just $125!) last week — which Media Mobilizing recorded and supplemented with information on the various initiatives. The front of the speech was heavily weighted with anecdotes about grants (good!) and companies coming into the city. It even included a note about Contemporary Graphics impressive record of hiring Camden residents (great! Though, normal caveats about letting politicians cherry-pick the example that makes them look best apply here). The speech was a valuable reminder of the power of being in power — listing what happens in a city is a powerful tool. It’s also different than analyzing what happens in a city — which takes into account the cost/benefit of these policies, and asks what else could have been done. One of the privileges of being in power is being able to list everything that sounds impressive – this is why politicians love all development, whether its healthy or not. It is great in a speech!

It was the end of the speech that I enjoyed the most. I’ve seen the Mayor speak a dozen or more times over the last few years, and she has a very controlled style. Rarely does she raise her voice. Rarely do these speeches rise to a crescendo. Rarely is a strong stance taken (and, some of this likely has to do with the fine line we ask our women of color to walk in public office). But towards the end of the speech, the Mayor spoke passionately using Christian scripture and language. It was the first time, in all these speeches, that I felt like I got to see a little more authentic vision of the Mayor. There was even a reference to “real Camden” — a mask slipping that indicates that maybe the dog and pony show of sucking up to institutions, corporations and local/state politicians isn’t done entirely happily. 

In short, it was a good reminder that the Mayor of Camden works in a constrained environment. The mayor is entirely dependent on the state for municipal funding. The mayor learned that lesson early on, when Gov. Christie slashed the municipal budget, and Camden saw record-setting crime. Camden County politicians are similarly dependent on a web of party control that involves circular donations, and a system of elections that makes it very challenging to win without being “on the line” in the primary. 

Of course, as things often go in Camden, the real story of the State of the State wasn’t the speech itself. It was the rumors swirling about the upcoming mayoral race. Would Mayor Redd run again? If not, it’s been commonly assumed locally that she was targeted for bigger things (Clinton Admin? Sigh. The bigger dot connectors see Norcross moving up to the Senate seat if Sen. Menendez is indicted, and Mayor Redd moving up to Congress but that seems a ways away, and NJ political winds may be blowing in a different direction). But the bench is thin here in Camden. Arthur Barclay seems like the heir apparent — he’s very popular with great name recognition, in part because of his connection to Camden’s most famous basketball team (and program). But he’s already moved up quickly (from Council to Assembly), and the general sense is that he’s not quite ready for a mayoral run yet. That likely leaves City Council President Frank Moran. 

For those reading the tea leaves, the Mayor used a lot of past tense in her speech, Moran did the mayor’s introduction, while Barclay showed up late to the event in a Camden High t-shirt, probably coming from Camden High basketball practice where he’s an assistant. The Camden High thing might be a complicated one for Barclay — his brand is closely tied to the school, and its demolition/rebuilding is probably the hottest issue in Camden’s activism community. It’s not a great time to run on the “I’m a legend from Camden High” ticket. 

There’s a bigger conversation that needs to happen here, about the future of the Camden County Democrats and how that affects Camden. More to come – I’d lov to do an evaluation of the core values of the local Democrats, what it means that the bench is thin, and how the bubbling progressivism will affect the party. But that will have to wait until I have time to write my own “State of the Camden County Democratic Party.” And don’t worry, that one won’t start with thanking all the politicians and corporations in the audience.

 

Tags: State of the City