Focus on people, patience will help Camden recovery

0 Comments | Philadelphia Inquirer, The, December, 2006 | by Porus P. Cooper

Back in October, I lamented in this column that the state's rescue plan for Camden, though well-intentioned, was faltering because it was "mostly about buildings - building them, expanding them, tearing them down - and almost nothing about people." Well, imagine my surprise last week when the man supervising all that construction, the city's state-appointed chief operating officer, Melvin R.

"Randy" Primas, agreed. My colleagues Elisa Ung and Dwight Ott reported that Primas, who is stepping down, will concede in a report to the governor that "Camden's $175 million recovery effort focused too much on buildings and not enough on people." This people thing works, even in Camden, when people feel empowered and motivated to rebuild their neighborhoods - and are assisted, but not...