"If we fail, it's on us," he added.
Signed into law by Gov. Jim McGreevey in 2002 and renewed by Corzine in 2007, the takeover eliminated the authority of Camden's mayor and City Council in exchange for providing $175 million in city rehabilitation projects.
Based on the extent of the powers ceded by elected leaders and the number of years that it lasted, it was the largest municipal takeover in U.S. history. But it failed to reduce Camden's dependency on state funds, and city residents are as destitute and beset by crime now as they were before it.
Though long defended as successful by the Democrats who created it, opinion about the takeover had shifted in recent months.
"It was a failure, it really was," said Moran, a Democrat.
Part of the problem, he said, was the leadership of the two permanent chief operating officers. Both men who served in that capacity resigned after apparent disputes with state officials.
In August, Theodore Z. Davis, who earned a controversial $175,000 salary that was never legally approved, quit without explanation, weeks after suggesting that the takeover could last until about 2030. He was replaced by an interim official, Albertha Hyche.
In a statement released yesterday, Corzine said that with the state's help, Camden had made "significant strides" during his time in office. The city had "regained a large measure of the public's trust, particularly in its ability to deliver essential municipal services with efficiency and honesty," he said.
Honest government has been a challenge in Camden. Less than two years before the takeover began, Mayor Milton Milan went to prison on corruption charges, the third Camden mayor in about two decades to be indicted.
