But enough of what I think.
Today and next Monday, I would like you to listen to the activist and the czar without much interruption from me. Decide for yourself; let me know what you think.
The activist is Carmen Ubarry-Rivera. The 39-year-old mother of three works as a parent liaison at the LEAP Academy University Charter School in Camden. She has lived in the city since she was 9 months old, when her mother moved there from Puerto Rico.
The czar is Melvin "Randy" Primas, 56, who used to be mayor of Camden but moved away years ago. He now spends just his working hours in the city as its state-appointed chief operating officer. A super-mayor, if you will.
They see two different Camdens.
Ubarry-Rivera looks out of her front door in the Cramer Hill section and points out to me the house across the street that has been renovated to shining perfection. She barely glances at the boarded-up house next to it.
She's frustrated - although her house is not in jeopardy - that the powers who run Camden see only blight everywhere and want to use the blunt instrument of eminent domain to uproot thousands of residents in Cramer Hill and elsewhere in the name of revitalizing the city.
"I love Cramer Hill. I think it is one of the most beautiful communities in Camden," she says.
Her husband is a custodial worker. She is the primary wage-earner in her family, making $39,000 a year. They paid $76,000 a decade ago to buy what used to be twin houses. Where else in South Jersey would they be able to live as well as they do in Camden? she asks.
Primas looks out of his 13th-floor office at City Hall and tries to point out to me a spot just north of the Admiral Wilson Boulevard where, he says, community resistance has stalled redevelopment. A high-rise obscures the area.
