This post is a thank you. A thank you to all the readers (readership has soared over the last month, we now have readers in 29 countries, along with a strong core in Camden, broader South Jersey, and Philadelphia). But a special thanks to the commenters. Over the past few weeks something special has started happening here, a dialogue is thriving despite some ugly incidents where folks have been discouraged from reading and engaging with this blog.

This past week I had a friend tell me they would not longer be speaking to me at public meetings; he had been the recipient of a tirade from a Camden politician and couldn’t afford to be seen with me in public. I had another friend tell me that he was told it was unprofessional to retweet my posts. I’ve heard of multiple calls to various offices at Rutgers attempting to find someone who could limit my writing. 

I started this blog because I thought it was critical to have places in Camden to talk openly about what was happening around us, and I thought maybe I (and Rutgers) could help to produce such a space. I believe the pushback against this blog only goes to show how critical that need is. 

In the midst of this ugliness, a commenter reached out to me. He said, “you used your name, I decided I needed to use mine.” It made my day. I know everyone can’t afford to engage here using their real name, but I dream of a Camden where we can. And that single commenter made me think of this, my favorite example that forces seeking to “ban” something often make it stronger: 

So in the spirit of Michael Jordan, and my courageous commenters, I’d like to share some of what has been said here over the past few days:

On Education: 

From Zora Dees-Brown: 

I totally agree with your perception! I was not in attendance at the last Town Meeting, however I did attend a previous meeting at Catto School a few weeks ago. I was appalled to see all the politicians, district employees and business folk hoping to win a spot and receive a school! WHERE WERE the parents. Isn’t this about their children? Not so sure about that! Back in the day Community School Coordinators were responsible for getting out the parents. That was a major function of their job description; to serve as a liason between the home, the school and the community. One Thursday a month, CSC’s were permitted to go home early so that they could pick up parents and take them to the district parent meeting held at a different school each month at 7pm. Currently, most schools still have CSC’s, where were they and why weren’t they directed to bring parents to a meeting so important that it will effect change in Camden forever? Don’t get me wrong, Camden is in trouble and it does need change, a turn around and a new perspective. However, it should be done correctly without intemination, bullying or muscle flexing! The parents must be involved every step of the way.

From Judith Storniolo: 

Dear Stephen,

Thanks so much for posting this. Educators deserve a voice in the search for solutions to the current crisis.

Best Wishes,

Judith Storniolo, PhD.
Teaching Professor of Anthropology
Drexel University

From Chris: 

Bravo, thank you for writing this. What a sham to hold this type of event without announcing which schools are on the chopping block. If districts gave as much support to public schools as they give to charters, our schools would be in much better shape. Too bad there is less profit to be made in public schools, that seems to keep a lid on their support.

The anecdote about KIPP taking their name off the school and giving up when their turnaround failed is chilling. That will continue to happen, after the schools have been picked apart and sold off by profiteers.

http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/education-uprising/why-corporations-want-our-public-schools

From Julia Rubin: 

Camden parent and public education advocate Gary Frazier testified on Tuesday night about what is happening in Camden, in front of the Legislative Black Caucus hearings on the Christie Administration’s One Newark school privatization plan.

Here is Gary’s testimony: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=785918694824077&id=1402423336674417&stream_ref=10

Here is Bob Braun’s coverage of that hearing: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=785918531490760&id=1402423336674417&stream_ref=10

On Cooper’s Ferry’s State of the City:

From Felix Torres-Colon: 

First, I like to thank you Stephen for your perspectives on Camden. You always add insightful and informed views to the conversation about the future of the City. I tend to think the answer is somewhere in the middle. The initiatives of Coopers Ferry and others offer a real opportunity for growth, investment and improvement for the City. Nevertheless, we must always remain vigilant that these opportunities serve and don’t ignore the residents of the City. I, for one, continue to be hopeful for a brighter day.

From Joseph: 

I wish it could be both. Camden needs both public AND private investment. A healthy city needs a mix of things working right, and this is part of it. Another part is what’s going on with schools. Another part should be an effort to brings jobs to actual residents of the city. Because jobs is the number one thing Camden needs more than anything else in the entire world. Jobs, jobs, jobs. Did they discuss how their “open for business” attitude will result in jobs for the city? Just wondering. I have yet to read anything to that effect.

From Amir Kahn: 

A PICTURE IS WORTH 1000 WORDS.

History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

From Adam Woods: 

I am a businessman who’s trying to grow and expand my business in Camden, and I read this report with a healthy dose of skepticism.

I guess I’m working too hard to keep a busy social calendar, but I had no idea this event was even happening.

I guess I’m also working too hard to do the hours and hours of detective work to figure out how to take advantage of some of these ‘incentives,’ but I have yet to be incentivized, even once, to locate or keep my business in Camden. Lots of these tax incentives seem to only help businesses who are large enough to have huge tax liabilities.

I guess I’m also working too hard to go out and hustle my business to the larger organizations in Camden. I’m a t-shirt printer by trade, and I see a lot of t-shirts in this report that weren’t printed in Camden.

Please don’t mistake me for a curmudgeon. I’m an optimist who’s happily working in Camden. I’m all about investment and growth and opportunity, I’m just not always seeing it on the ground. Part of that’s on me, but part of that’s on the city where I work too.

Adam Woods
—————————————————————–
Adam Woods – @adamewoods
LIKE Camden Printworks on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Camden-Printworks/246585628706522

From Joseph: 

Adam, in truth, people like you are the real people we should be celebrating. People who choose to invest in the city without having to be lured or something by the city or state, that’s the real treasure. I’ve never heard of your company before, but I think you’re awesome. I wish I needed T-shirts printed!

Site note: Have you seen those “I (bicycle) Camden” shirts? One of the Cooper’s Ferry partners, David Foster, I think, was wearing one in an IgnitePhilly talk he gave (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHy6vWqAzyQ). You didn’t print those, did you? If not, you should really get in touch with him. My brother and I want to buy them.

From William: 

Unfortunately, this has always been a game of smoke and mirrors. Their last annual meeting touted the “soon-to-be-open” redevelopment site by Lourdes Hospital, featuring a grocery store, offices, and apartments. That project is now bust. The problem with Cooper’s Ferry is that they’re a bunch of over-educated 30-something white men making 6-figure salaries under the guise of a “non-profit”. Their plans never come to fruition, and their marketing efforts are false advertising.

The city’s infrastructure is literally broken and crumbling, there are no jobs for unskilled persons, and the city’s entire redevelopment effort revolves around hospitals and schools. So, naturally, the only successful projects in Cooper’s Ferry portfolio include: a bike trail from Philadelphia to Collingswood, a baseball stadium that is facing legal action/bankruptcy, and an assortment of other projects that are unsuccessful or have no lasting impact on the city. The Cooper’s Ferry crew makes $135,000 to $200,000+ a year, and we wonder why they struggle to connect to the average resident.

The city government is not working for the people of Camden. Dana Redd and her crew work for the county power brokers. Is it any surprise that the ONLY active development in the city is being done by politically connected developers? Why is Cooper Plaza the only neighborhood that is being redeveloped at breakneck pace? Does it have anything to do with the county democrats instructing the CRA to “clear the way” for M&M Development? M&M doesn’t seem to get caught up in the same bureaucracy that every other private business and developer faces.

Here’s the reality: Camden is NOT open for business. And that is why private businesses and developers run the other way once they step foot in the city. The city itself and the government is totally unprepared for the private sector. The local zoning/redevelopment/building boards are dysfunctional, and they never have quorum. Not to mention the fact that the local boards are stuffed with unprofessional, uneducated bureaucrats who don’t know the first thing about owning a business or redeveloping a city. Every other city in America appoints real professionals to their building/redevelopment boards – city planners, attorneys, real estate professionals, engineers. Nope, not in Camden. Just a bunch of bureaucrats who never show up to work.

People should be outraged and terrified by the recent legislation at the city and state level regarding eminent domain. They PARKING AUTHORITY now has eminent domain powers?? And the Rutgers-Rowan board has expanded powers, too!?

The city is dysfunctional as ever. And no one cares to wake up, or get involved.

Thank you all for your courageous comments. I don’t always agree (often I do!), but I know this space is better because of your involvement.

(Editor’s Note: there is no way to verify the names of commenters)