Camden residents are ‘fed up’ as City Council approves bill that could help fund indicted former mayor’s legal fees

Protesters disrupted Camden lawmakers’ meeting on Tuesday, objecting to the passage of an ordinance they said appeared designed to benefit the city’s indicted former mayor by lifting a cap on the amount of taxpayer money that can be allocated toward current and former employees’ legal defense.

Lawmakers voted 4-1 in favor of the measure, for which City Council gave initial approval last month. It comes after former Mayor Dana L. Redd was indicted in June on state racketeering charges alongside five other defendants, including South Jersey power broker George E. Norcross III.

After the ordinance passed, several dozen people in the audience erupted in chants of “Fed up! Fired up!” and “Shut it down!” Council members then left the room for about 20 minutes.

“We taking City Council over tonight. This is our City Council chambers,” Ronsha Dickerson, 47, executive director of the community group Camden Parent & Student Union, told the roomful of people after lawmakers emptied out. “Enough is enough. … We are organizing to remove these clowns. … We have had enough of a lack of democracy inside this city. We’ve had enough of the puppetry.”

Residents continued chanting after lawmakers reconvened. After police officers approached Dickerson, she and other protesters voluntarily left the Council chambers.

Council President Angel Fuentes said the ordinance will now be considered by the state commissioner of community affairs, who oversees Camden’s finances. The city’s $214 million budget for 2024 anticipates $131 million in state aid. The legislation would also need to be signed by Mayor Victor Carstarphen.

“They try to undermine me as much as I’ve been very open to their concerns,” Fuentes told reporters, adding that the protesters demonstrated “disrespect to the governing body.”

The ordinance would authorize “reasonable attorneys’ fees” for current and former public officials in certain circumstances. That is a change from existing law, enacted in 2002, which set a maximum rate of $125 an hour, according to city officials.

The ordinance does not define what would constitute “reasonable” fees. However, it says any dispute over the matter between the city and the current or former public official would be referred to a “neutral mediator,” who would make a recommendation.

As in the existing ordinance, the new one would allow the city attorney to refuse to provide defense if he or she determines, among other things, that the act for which the official is being prosecuted “was because of actual fraud, willful misconduct, or actual malice.”

Howard McCoach, an attorney for City Council, said that the city attorney would make a recommendation but that the mayor would make the final decision about whether to reimburse a current or former employee.

“It is not about any specific individual,” he said.

Lawmakers have not said what specifically prompted the ordinance, though Fuentes said the current law was “antiquated” and needed to be updated. Councilman Arthur Barclay, the legislation’s sponsor, declined to comment when approached by reporters Tuesday.

Councilman Christopher Collins voted against it, saying he wants the legal fees to be capped.

New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin in June unveiled an indictment accusing Redd of participating in a criminal enterprise led by Norcross that used its influence over government entities — as well as threats of economic and reputational harm — to obtain real estate on the Camden waterfront.

Redd hired criminal defense attorney Henry Klingeman to represent her. He has declined to say whether Redd intends to seek reimbursement from the city.

Redd, 56, of Sicklerville, and her codefendants have pleaded not guilty. She served as mayor from 2010 to 2018, and before that as a City Council member and state senator. Prosecutors say the conspiracy started in about 2012 and continued to the date of the indictment.

Jose Delgado, 77, a former Camden school board member, said “it cannot be a coincidence” that the legislation was introduced after Redd’s indictment. “I’m talking about your conscience,” he told lawmakers.

The new ordinance says that if the current or former employee pleads guilty or is found guilty of any criminal charges, the city attorney “may decline continued defense and seek reimbursement of attorneys’ fees and costs.”

Some speakers said it was troubling that this clawback provision was not mandatory.

Barbara Coscarello, a former school board member, called for what she described as a compromise.

“If the former mayor is found guilty, she should be responsible for her legal fees,” Coscarello said. “If, on the other hand, she’s found innocent, she was acting under the oath in which she swore to be loyal and faithful to the City of Camden, then those legal fees should be paid for by the City of Camden.”