New leader puts Camden on notice

Theodore Z. Davis, the retired judge who took over as Camden's state-appointed chief administrator two months ago, waded into a room full of angry city employees and laid down the new law: no overtime, no spending without his approval, no hires, no raises.

City spending, he said, had been "atrocious." Past decisions were "borderline stupidity." And the fire chief's station-closing overtime protest was "bordering on criminality."

The room fell quiet. There's a new sheriff in town.

"My weakness is being blunt," said Davis, 73, a former IRS accountant and state Superior Court judge who lives in Camden. "I'm a results-oriented person."

In a city infamous for poverty, crime, mismanagement and corruption, many expected Davis would merely be a caretaker while the state conducted a national search for a permanent chief operating officer.

Instead, the Republican hired by Democratic Gov. Corzine is making clear that he's an activist who cares little about hurting feelings or protecting the way things are.

Davis spent his first six weeks quietly studying the city's $120 million budget and 1,300-employee payroll, allowing city officials to get comfortable with his silence. Then, this month, he burst from his office with the cost-cutting "Executive Order No. 1," flapping into public view like a bat out of hell.

"There's been no discipline, no structure," Davis told City Council and Mayor Gwendolyn Faison at a Council meeting. "In fact, it seems as though there has been a free-for-all in terms of this city's operation. My goodness, this is the 21st century we're in."

The city payroll, Davis said, was kept in pencil-written ledger books. There were no time clocks, no performance benchmarks.

Camden government, he said, was "like cold tar going uphill backwards."

Through expressionless lips, Davis added: "I'm going to have to do something, because no one else is." He promised residents he would restore city government accountability and efficiency.

His first target was overtime.

City taxes contribute only about 14 percent of Camden's annual budget. State taxpayers fill the void.

The city spends more than half its budget on firefighting and policing, including $7 million in overtime.

Civilian fire and police leaders have long defended the overtime, accusing would-be reformers of sacrificing public safety.

Davis said he had heard "all the excuses before." He clamped a freeze on overtime, promotions, hiring, and new spending without his approval.

When Fire Chief Joseph Marini shut down a fire station for 11 hours, saying it couldn't be staffed without overtime, Davis ordered it reopened. He and the fire chief have met twice privately since.

"He's going places where others won't go," admiring East Camden resident Tom Rapacki said. "Whatever has to happen happens, because he has no allegiance to anybody."

Corzine named Davis to the $18,000-a-month post to temporarily replace Melvin R. "Randy" Primas Jr., who quit in a dustup with his boss, state Community Affairs Secretary Susan Bass Levin.

Davis hasn't applied for the job of permanent chief.

Camden activist Carmen Ubarry, a member of the search committee and a candidate for Council, said she thought the search would take about four more months.

Davis "is doing a great job under difficult circumstances," said Anthony Coley, a spokesman for Corzine. "He is exactly what the community and people of Camden need at such a time as this, and he has the governor's support."

Davis has been married 47 years to Joan Davis, the former chairwoman of the Camden Redevelopment Agency and a current trustee of Cooper University Hospital and the CAMcare health-care clinic. The hospital's chairman is South Jersey Democratic leader George E. Norcross III, and CAMcare's director is Mark Bryant, the Lawnside mayor and brother of beleaguered State Sen. Wayne Bryant. The Davises have one son, Theodore Jr.

The retired judge grew up in a foster home in Camden. He attended Camden public schools and Temple University, where he was an accounting major. After graduation, he couldn't get an accounting job. Philadelphia lawyer and activist Charles Bowser suggested he pursue law, so he went to Temple Law School at night while working as an IRS agent by day. Now he serves on Temple's board of trustees.

Davis honed his no-nonsense style for 22 years on the Superior Court bench in Camden, retiring in 2003. He specialized in corporate and tax cases.

In 1992, he chaired a state Supreme Court task force that produced a 1,200-page report that found discrimination against minorities in the state's civil and criminal courts, whether they were defendants, lawyers, court employees or judges.

In a decision overturned on appeal, he found four Inquirer reporters in contempt of court for interviewing the jury forewoman in Rabbi Fred Neulander's 2001 murder trial.

He also is a fly fisherman, photographer and furniture-maker. He played classical music on the bass until an accident with a woodworking tool in the 1990s.

Faison, whose powers as mayor have been usurped by the chief operating officer under the state Recovery Act, bristled at Davis' spending crackdown. She and other city officials complained that he should have shared his order with them before announcing it.

Some, though, have warmed to Davis.

Councilman Gilbert "Whip" Wilson said Davis was "doing things that should have been done."

Davis said he was just starting.

He said his top priority was bringing order to the city's accounting books.

"Let's get it on," he told the city finance director last week. "I want those books balanced for going out into the market. Right now we don't qualify for even junk-bond status."

Title: Chief operating officer.

Salary: $175,000.

Responsibilities: Manage city government and assure police, fire, and other essential city services. The position has all the functions, powers and duties of mayor, including hiring, firing and budgeting. The chief operating officer can propose city legislation and veto actions of City Council and other municipal boards.

History: The position was established in 2002 by the state Recovery Act, which funnels $175 million into Camden in exchange for state control of the city. The first to hold the title, Melvin R. "Randy" Primas Jr., resigned in November.

Boss: The chief operating officer is appointed by the governor and reports to the state commissioner of community affairs.

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