Camden Mayor Reverses Stand

Mayor Gwendolyn A. Faison said she would support a new state plan to infuse her struggling city with cash for projects if she and Gov. James E. McGreevey can agree on a few more details. Faison pronounced her tentative support Tuesday night after meeting with McGreevey. It was a reversal from her stand earlier in the day, when she spoke out against a plan that would cost her power.

"I feel good after meeting with the governor privately," Faison said. "He's very sensitive to me, and I think he's going to work with me, and it may just be OK."

Faison's meeting was her first with McGreevey since March 7, the day he spoke at a Camden church and promised he would be back in two months with a sweeping aid plan for the city.

The governor is more than a month late in delivering his plan. Faison said before the meeting McGreevey had broken a promise that she would have a role in drafting the latest bailout package. But she was satisfied Tuesday's meeting gave her a chance to express her concerns about the bill.

State officials have not given details of their plans. McGreevey is scheduled to outline the proposal to the public Thursday.

Faison said the latest plan is similar to one that failed to gain legislative approval in January. That legislation would have infused $181 million of state money into the city to repair the infrastructure, expand local hospitals and universities, train government workers and knock down vacant buildings.

She said more money would now go to fixing neighborhoods. The plan would also call for a state-appointed chief operating officer.

Faison said the chief operating officer, possibly former Camden Mayor Randy Primas, would likely have control over economic development while she would continue to oversee the city's day to day business.

Faison said the only thing now blocking her complete support of McGreevey's plan is detail of the division of labor between her and the operating officer.

For years, the state has wrestled with how to help Camden, where more than 35 percent of the residents live in poverty. Only three other U.S. cities of more than 50,000 people have higher poverty rates.

The city of 80,000 has also been plagued by government scandal. Faison's predecessor, Milton Milan, is in a federal prison serving time for a December 2000 conviction on corruption charges.

Drugs and crime have also plagued the city. McGreevey has, however, helped the city in that area by assigning 100 state troopers to patrol the city's streets.

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Author: 6 ABC-AP