Camden Mayor Demands Apology From Holtec’s Singh; The Apology He Should Be Demanding Is From Democrats

Camden Mayor Francisco “Frank” Moran

I’m calling BS on this one! Camden Mayor Frank Moran, according to the Courier-Post is demanding an apology from Kris Singh, the founder of Holtec International.

Apparently, Moran is angry over comments Singh made in an interview in ROI-NJ. Singh was complaining that “Holtec cannot recruit and retain the workforce it needs — despite huge efforts to hire local employees.”

Then the ROI-NJ article goes on:

The issues range from entitlement to lack of training, Singh said. High turnover is the result.

“We are starting from a base which is zero,” Singh said. “People don’t have the skills.”

They also lack a history of working.

“There is no tradition of work in families,” he said. “That has been a problem. If we hire 10, we keep two. The other eight weed themselves out.”

Singh, a self-made millionaire, is trying to understand it.

“They don’t show up to work,” he said. “They can’t stand getting up in the morning and coming to work every single day. They haven’t done it, and they didn’t see their parents do it. Of course, some of them get into drugs and things. So, it’s difficult.”

The hope is, Singh said, that those that stay become examples in their neighborhoods and encourage more interest.

Of course, now a bunch of people are screaming about his comments being "racist and classist," never mind the fact that Camden is a city with people of many races, creeds and colors. I didn’t see that Singh singled out any particular race or class of people in his comments, but why let facts get in the way.

So, the Courier-Post’s article included a statement from the Mayor’s office:

An "official statement" from the mayor's office demanded an apology "on behalf of the entire Camden community."

"As someone who was born, raised and resides in Camden, the mayor, like many  residents, is all too familiar with the nasty generalizations placed upon our residents," the statement said.

"Do not disrespect my city," Moran added in a tweet that said Camden residents "have more grit & ability to succeed than any other place."

The Mayor apparently didn’t bother to mention the fact that in the ROI-NJ article Congressman Donald Norcross agreed with Singh. The ROI-NJ article quotes Norcross:

When you stop to think about it, I say children are that one asset that you can’t blame them for anything,” he said. “Same thing goes for people who have not had a structure that taught them.

“We saw the same thing (with the union) as Dr. Singh and Joe Balzano. There is mentoring that has to take place.”

Norcross admits the city still has its work cut out for it.

“Nobody’s batting 1.000 here,” he said. “But we’re batting a much high percentage (than before).”

And, there’s the BS. Why didn’t Moran demand an apology from Norcross? The answer to that question is simple, Moran wants to join the rest of the nutjobs and turn this into an issue of race. The issue is really the failed leadership that led to the decline of Camden and that city’s failing schools.

The better question is why isn’t Moran demanding an apology from the Democratic Party of New Jersey? Camden has had a mayor from the Democratic Party since George Edward Brunner in 1936. Camden has been represented, UNINTERRUPTED, in the assembly and the state senate since 1973. 45 years of nothing but Democrats representing your city in Trenton Mr. Moran. Democrats in Camden’s city hall for 82 years. Maybe, just maybe, that might be the problem. The problem is definitely not Kris Singh trying to get people to come to work every day.