The city is poor, but it certainly doesn’t warrant the Detroit treatment. Must be something in this for Christie:
TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie will appoint an emergency manager to take over the troubled resort town’s daily operations, The Wall Street Journal reported early Thursday morning.
The emergency manager position was one recommendation of an advisory commission Christie formed. The governor is expected to formally announce the move Thursday during the third summit he has held in an effort pull the city from economic hardship.
“They’re moving forward with an emergency manager,” Atlantic City Council President Frank M. Gilliam Jr. told Philly.com.
Christie is expected to name Kevin Lavin, a lawyer who worked for FTI Consulting Inc. in New York, a source told The Wall Street Journal. Another man, former Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr, will be brought on as a consultant to work with Lavin, the paper also reported. Orr controlled Detroit’s finances beginning in March 2013.
The two will begin immediately and will assume the powers now held by the mayor and council. They will also be free to consider a range of solutions — including renegotiating public-employee contracts, The Journal reported.
“I’ve heard rumors to the same effect that other people have heard,” state Sen. Jim Whelan (D-Atlantic) told NJ Advance Media, referring to Orr coming to the city.
He added: “I wonder where the legal authority comes from for it, frankly, number one. Number two, I don’t want to speak for the city or the mayor — I haven’t been mayor for quite a while — but there’s a philosophical question of we have an elected mayor and an elected council and we’re just going to throw that out? On what basis? Detroit was in bankruptcy.”
Of course there’s something in this for Christie, otherwise he wouldn’t be doing it.
PS — It sounds like this may be illegal.
PPS — Illegality never stopped Christie before.
PPPS — it looks as though his chances for getting the ‘Publican nomination for POTUS have dwindled down to next to nothing.
The fat, loudmouth will now become the emperor of his own city. Christie gets to call all the shots through his handpicked emergency manager.
He can get rid of municipal pensions, reduce teachers pay to minimum wage, award city contracts, and work out sweetheart deals with the casino owners about how much in property taxes they will pay.
Why an enterprising young thug like Christie could line his pockets with millions.
There must be something that The Outlaw Jersey Whale wants to wipe his fingerprints from, all the usual evil reasons for an EM don’t mean that much to him. Perhaps something between himself and the city regarding that vaporous casino, The Revel?
Having once been the chief prosecutor of New Jersey, Christie knows where all the bodies are buried.
Now that he knows that his political career is rapidly fading he wants his.
Taking control of the East Coast gambling capitol makes perfect sense.
Anybody who makes a move against him including the mob types will quickly find themselves relocated to Rahway State Prison. Or worse.
Vladimir Christie! Lord help the poor horse.