Since July 1, 1961, the city has operated within the Faulkner Act, formally known as the Optional Municipal Charter Law, under a Mayor-Council form of government.[1][2] The city is one of 71 municipalities (of the 564) statewide that use this form of government.[3] The governing body is comprised of the Mayor and the City Council, with all members elected in partisan voting to four-year terms of office on a staggered basis. The Mayor is directly elected by the voters. The City Council includes seven council members. Since 1994, the city has been divided into four council districts, with a single council member elected from each of the four districts and three council members being elected at-large; previously, the entire council was elected at-large. The four ward seats are up for election at the same time and the three at-large seats and the mayoral seat are up for election together two years later.[4] For three decades before 1962 and from 1996 to 2007, Camden's municipal elections were held on a non-partisan basis; since 2007, the elections have been partisan.[5]
As of 2024[update], the Mayor of Camden is Democrat Victor Carstarphen, whose term of office ends December 31, 2025.[6] Members of the City Council are Council President Angel Fuentes (D, 2025; at large), Vice President Sheila Davis (D, 2025; at large), Arthur Barclay (D, 2027; Ward 1), Christopher R. Collins (D, 2027; Ward 2), Falio Leyba-Martinez (D, 2027; Ward 3), Jannette Ramos (D, 2027; Ward 4) and Noemi G. Soria-Perez (D, 2025; at large).[7][8][9][10]
In May 2021, the city council appointed Victor Carstarphen to serve as mayor, filling the seat expiring in December 2021 that had been held by Frank Moran until he resigned from office the previous March.[11]
In 2018, the city had an average residential property tax bill of $1,710, the lowest in the county, compared to an average bill of $6,644 in Camden County and $8,767 statewide.[12][13]
References
edit- ^ 2012 New Jersey Legislative District Data Book, Rutgers University Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, March 2013, p. 28.
- ^ "Forms of Municipal Government in New Jersey", p. 10. Rutgers University Center for Government Studies. Accessed June 1, 2023.
- ^ Inventory of Municipal Forms of Government in New Jersey, Rutgers University Center for Government Studies, July 1, 2011. Accessed June 1, 2023.
- ^ City Council: Government Structure and Services, City of Camden. Accessed June 2, 2024. "Since July 1, 1961, the City has operated under a Mayor-Council form of government. Under this form of government, the City Council consisted of seven (7) Council members originally all elected at-large. In 1994, the City opted to modify the form of government to better address the changing needs of the citizenry. To that end, the City of Camden was divided into four (4) councilmanic districts, instead of electing the entire Council at-large. One Council member was elected from each of the four (4) districts."
- ^ Saul, April. "Petition drive would bring back nonpartisan elections to Camden", WHYY-FM, August 11, 2020. Accessed August 25, 2020. "City lawmakers, said Sloan El, got Camden elections changed from nonpartisan to partisan in 2007, "by putting it on a ballot and telling everybody the city would save $80,000" by not having to hold an extra election.... Camden had nonpartisan elections from 1960 to 1992 and from 1996 to 2007 — when city leaders won a referendum to return to partisan elections, said Vance Bowman, one of this drive's petitioners, because 'we didn't fight it. Nobody was paying attention.'"
- ^ Office of the Mayor, City of Camden. Accessed June 2, 2024.
- ^ Council Members, City of Camden. Accessed June 2, 2024.
- ^ 2024 Municipal Data Sheet, City of Camden. Accessed June 2, 2024.
- ^ Official Election Results 2023 General Election November 7, 2023, Camden County, New Jersey, updated November 22, 2023. Accessed January 1, 2024.
- ^ 2021 General Election November 2, 2021 Official Election Results, Camden County, New Jersey, update November 15, 2021. Accessed January 1, 2022.
- ^ Trethan, Phaedra. "Carstarphen takes reins as Camden mayor, finishing Moran's term", Courier-Post, May 12, 2021. Accessed April 26, 2022. "Not long after being sworn in as Camden's mayor — at least until November's election — Vic Carstarphen was in Ablett Village Wednesday morning, talking to residents about their concerns, about how the city could begin to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, and how vaccines play a role in that recovery. Carstarphen was chosen Tuesday by his City Council colleagues to finish the term vacated by Frank Moran last month. Moran stepped down in March, during the final year of his first term, and City Council President Curtis Jenkins took over on a temporary basis until the city Democratic Committee, and subsequently City Council, chose a new mayor to finish the term."
- ^ 2018 Property Tax Information, New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, updated January 16, 2019. Accessed November 7, 2019.
- ^ Marcus, Samantha. "These are the towns with the lowest property taxes in each of N.J.'s 21 counties", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, April 30, 2019. Accessed November 7, 2019. "New Jersey's average property tax bill may have hit $8,767 last year – a new record – but taxpayers in some parts of the state pay just a fraction of that.... The average property tax bill in Camden was $1,710 in 2018, the lowest in Camden County."