Thursday, October 22, 2009
By: Christina Paciolla
Gloucester County Times
cpaciolla@sjnewsco.com

WOODBURY -- A Camden mainstay and a labor union president turned politician are the two Democrats running for two open 5th District Assembly seats in November.

Angel Fuentes and Donald Norcross both have made their marks in Camden and said they hope to represent the legislative district that covers Deptford, Westville, Woodbury and Woodbury Heights in a meeting with the Times editorial board Tuesday.

"I don't think we could ever have enough people in the electoral process that care about working families," said Norcross, who is head of the Southern New Jersey AFL-CIO Central Labor Council.

Even though much of the 5th District lies in Camden County, Camden City itself included, both Norcross and Fuentes agree that the issue of utilizing taxpayers' money effectively stretches to the Gloucester County towns.

"We want to say to you, as taxpayers, we are taking your tax dollars seriously for what is in the best interest of the city," said Fuentes, who serves as city council president in Camden.

Fuentes hopes to bring back commerce into Camden and its surrounding areas to bring the South Jersey city back to the thriving community it once was.

"Camden was a powerhouse," Fuentes said. "And we lost it. We want to bring back that respect we had."

Institutions like Campbell Soup, the Camden Riversharks baseball team and even the long-gone RCA building were major tax contributors to the city. Those numbers have diminished over the years, and jobs lost.

"Now, we have the most creative tax incentives for businesses to come and relocate to Camden City," Fuentes said.

One issue that the two hopefuls think will work in Gloucester County, due to its success in Burlington County, is the addition of the light rail system.