“We should hear in October the decision from the government. We’re short-listed. There’s nine finalists right now,” said Marc Riondino, city attorney in Camden.

Three vans carried reporters and officials through a Camden neighborhood called Mount Ephraim this afternoon.

Thirty-three cities have applied for the federal government’s Choice Neighborhood Implementation Grant program and the competition is now down to nine.

Mayor Dana Redd and Sen. Bob Menendez toured the targeted area today. Parts of it are blighted, other parts not so bad. At issue, said Menendez, is how much the Republican controlled Congress is willing to put toward the program.

“Last year Republicans in the House prevailed in setting a low funding level. Lower than the president’s requests which were around I think $250 million. They set it at $80 million. This year they’re proposing even less — another 75 percent decrease which amount to only $20 million nationwide — which is a starvation diet for a program that needs more than 10 times that amount to stay alive and be effective,” Menendez said.

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