$22 Million in Under Sixty Seconds!:

Camden County Commissioners’ September Meeting Recap

At noon on Thursday, September 23, 2021, the Camden County Commissioners held their monthly public meeting over Webex. Redistricting, homeless shelters & prisoner extradition were all on the agenda. Meeting attendees voiced concerns about a host of environmental, economic and social justice issues.

A Troubling New Practice: Consent Agenda

The Camden County commissioners have moved to conducting their official business via consent agenda. This means that the commissioners no longer proceed item by item. Instead the commissioners now vote on the whole lot in one fail swoop. At this particular meeting, the commissioners voted in seconds to pass 113 resolutions allocating $22,113,664.70 without any discussion of those resolutions.

On the Agenda: “Pay to Play” Regular is Hired to do Redistricting

Also on the agenda was the issue of redistricting which could have major implications for elections on all levels. The carving up of new wards in Camden could change council representation for various parts of the city. The most recent Camden mayoral election was hotly contested, with several challenger candidates running. One of those candidates, Councilwoman Felisha Reyes Morton, ran despite being told by party boss George Norcross that he alone controls candidate nominations.

The $25,450 contract for redistricting and re-warding services was awarded to Remington and Vernick, a well known “pay to play” firm. According to their 2020 NJ ELEC filing, the Haddonfield based firm donated $432,700 to political campaigns and received $48,059,944.69 in public contracts. In an average year, Remington and Vernick donates half a million dollars to various races and receives $40 million in public contracts.

Conflicts of interest involving this firm are routine. The firm’s general counsel is Edward “Teddy” Brennan, Mayor of Merchantville, who also sits on the Merchantville-Pennsauken Water Commission. That agency that routinely contracts with Remington and Vernick. In the past two years, that Water Commission contract has been to tune of about $100,000.

On the county government level too, conflicts of interest are glaring. Remington and Vernick donated multiple times to three of the sitting County Commissioners — Director Lou Cappelli and Commissioners Jonathon Young and Al Dyer. They are all members of the government body that just voted to award the firm this redistricting contract.

Finally, the firm has a long established relationship with party boss George Norcross. In 2020, Remington and Vernick donated $15,000 to Norcross’s PAC General Majority. On the infamous 2001 Palmyra Tapes George Norcross discusses patronage jobs awarded to Remington and Vernick.

On the Agenda: Homeless Shelters at the County’s Edge

Also on the agenda was a resolution to amend a July 2021 contract with Volunteers of America, establishing a temporary homeless shelter in Blackwood, an unincorporated community within larger Gloucester Township. In July, action was taken to address a homeless encampment in Camden City. Some Camden activists felt that not enough was being done to help those dealing with housing insecurity; a protest at the Cherry Hill Mall ensued. Many of the activists were concerned by what they felt was delayed action and inadequate care for the homeless in Camden by the County Commissioners.

Though Gloucester Township and Camden are comparable in population, each with about 70,000 residents, Gloucester Township is far more spread out, land wise, with a poverty rate of 5% compared to Camden’s 36%. Are the homeless of Camden being bussed over to this shelter at the Eastern edge of the county? A key to understanding may be on the February 2020 County Commissioners agenda. At that meeting, the County Commissioners awarded $150,000 from the Homelessness Trust Fund to an LLC run by the Michaels Organization, a company with strong ties to George Norcross, for the construction of townhouses in the city.

Public Comment: Good Government & Social Justice Concerns

During the public comment section of the meeting, I expressed my concern about the use of consent agenda. Though it gets the meeting done faster for the commissioners, it makes it harder for the public to engage. It is not a good government practice.

Susan Druckenbrod of South Jersey Progressive Democrats brought up the perennial concern of Camden’s food desert. Director Cappelli responded that it was a “private sector problem.”

I inquired about the county’s extradition services because that bid was on the agenda. I was interested in learning whether our county uses a private for-profit prison transport company. Various news outlets and organizations have flagged private extradition companies as a potential source of human rights abuse.I wondered who the county contracts with and what is done to make sure that company upholds ethical standards. Director Cappelli was not forthcoming with that information.

I also brought up two environmental justice issues.I inquired about the county’s plan to end dependency on Covanta, the trash incinerator located in Camden that adversely impacts air quality countywide. Around this time last year, the county signed a one year contract with Covanta. I asked if the county planned to renew this contract and got an unclear answer. Commissioner Nash said they weren’t sure but also that they would be making a decision in the next 30 days.

I also raised concerns about an issue that was shared with me by a Camden City resident, about the need for remediation of the continued illegal trash dumping in the Bergen Square neighborhood. The National Institute for Healthy Human Spaces has called on the County Commissioners to take action to redress this lingering issue of environmental injustice. Though the County Commissioners recently held a press conference at the scene of the illegal dumping and those photos remain on their website, I was told that this was a state, not county, problem.

Also at this meeting Garren Steiner of CWA asked about hazard pay for county employees and was told it is not available at this time. Rhyan Greck of the Pinelands Preservation Alliance advocated for county representation to the Pinelands Commission.