Support Adelaide’s Place Saturday, Feb 28 2009

Adelaide’s Place, a Day Program for homeless women in Atlantic City is holding a Pasta Night on Thursday, March 12th from 5p – 8p upstairs in the Villa Room at Angelo’s Fairmount Tavern, 2300 Fairmount Avenue in Atlantic City for $25.00 per person. Join them for food and fun! RSVP by phone 609.340.8816 or e-mail adelaidesplace@verizon.net.

Charity is the responsibility of the individual and the community, not the government. I hope to see you at this benefit for a worthwhile private charity.

Leave a Response »

 

Immediate Government Action is Required to Preclude Another Casino Shutdown Friday, Feb 27 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Vince Polistina or

John Amodeo

 at 609-677-8266
February 27, 2009

 

LACK OF WILL PREVENTING SAFEGUARDS AGAINST CASINO SHUTDOWN

ABSECON – Tired of hearing excuses, Assemblymen John Amodeo and Vince Polistina said Governor Corzine simply lacks the will to declare Casino Control Commission employees essential state employees.

“The Governor has based his stance on legal opinion,” said Polistina. “And an ‘opinion’ is just that – one person’s side of the story. The governor needs to keep asking until he gets an answer that will allow the casinos to remain open and all of the critical senior programs that rely on the casinos to remain unaffected.”

“Keeping the casinos open should be a priority with the administration, and the state should go to the mat to keep the doors open, the employees working, and the customers coming in,” said Amodeo. “Declare Casino Control Commission employees ‘essential’ and then let someone challenge that in court.”

Since Casino Control Commission employees are not ‘essential’ state employees, if the state government shuts down like it did in 2006, Atlantic City’s casinos will have to close because there would be no casino regulators working. Under current state law, the casino would be able to remain open for seven days in the event of a state shutdown. Amodeo and Polistina are sponsoring a bill to increase that number of days casinos can remain open to 60 days.

“The casino industry in New Jersey is facing stiff competition for other states and is trying to struggle through the recession like everyone else, it does not need the state to exacerbate the situation,” said Polistina. “The governor should just say CCC employees are essential and not leave a multi-billion dollar industry at the mercy of some government lawyer.”

“It’s bad enough that the casino industry, which may be the largest employer in the state, was left out of the federal stimulus package,” said Amodeo. “Government should make some acknowledgment that the businesses, the jobs, and the senior and disabled programs generated and supported by this industry are vital to New Jersey.

Both assemblymen served on panels discussing economic development in South Jersey at today’s “Sound Off for South Jersey” event sponsored the Southern New Jersey Development Council.

###

One Response »

 

Greater AC Chamber Pres. Joseph Kelly Defends Casino Gaming Wednesday, Feb 4 2009

In today’s letters to the Press of Atlantic City Greater Atlantic City Chamber of Commerce President Joseph Kelly defends Atlantic City against a 25 January letter attacking the casino gaming industry.

Facts show casinos a boon for region

The writer of the Jan. 25 letter, “Casinos greedy, driven by profit,” says the casinos “provide little other than low-paying jobs.” That’s an opinion clearly not supported by the facts. The economic benefits provided by the New Jersey casino industry are extraordinary to say the least.

The industry employs approximately 40,000 people directly and 21,000 people indirectly. Most casino jobs include health-care benefits. In its 30-year history, New Jersey’s casino industry has generated more than $17 billion in taxes and fees for New Jersey and Atlantic City.

Only the state income tax, sales and corporate business taxes generate more tax revenue for the state than the casino industry.

In the past 23 years, $1.8 billion in investments and grants has been generated by the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, which is entirely funded by New Jersey’s casinos.

Furthermore, the casino industry purchases a total of $3.5 billion in goods and services each year, with $2.2 billion going directly to 4,200 New Jersey-based companies in all 21 counties. The casinos also provide millions of dollars in financial donations and in-kind services to hundreds of needy non-profit organizations.

As for the letter writer’s assertion that the casinos are profit-making organizations, since when did that become something ignoble? Profits are what enable casinos, like any other business, to grow and expand.

These are troubling economic times, to be sure. But it’s important to remember that casinos have been this region’s economic engine for three decades. Far from being part of the problem, they represent a big part of the solution.

JOSEPH KELLY

President

Greater Atlantic City

Chamber of Commerce

Atlantic City

(Image Source – http://www.acchamber.com/images/joe.jpg)

Here is the letter that Mr. Kelly references:

Casinos greedy, driven by profit

The Press’ premise that the casinos were opened “to revive a dying economy” is basically true. But let us not forget that the casinos are profit-making organizations, in business for themselves. They are overly greedy and really provide little other than low-paying jobs.

Their workers live in surrounding areas and they and their children have forced at least three towns to build more schools. Do your readers know that casino-[r]evenue taxes are prohibited from being used for municipal or school costs?

The Press too easily accepts the facts and figures issued by the casinos as gospel. You never explain their pure profit in stories about declining revenue. It’s true profits have lessened, but that doesn’t mean they are losing money.

ROB CIRILLO

Galloway Township

I applaud President Kelly in taking Mr. Cirillo’s garbage premises to task.   I join the President in pointing out the idiocy of Mr. Cirillo.   First,

It’s true profits have lessened, but that doesn’t mean they are losing money.

Profits are money.   This statement is the second dumbest statement I have encountered today.   The winner for “Dumb as Soap” award is Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi.

The big point not mentioned is that municipal and state government have been guilty of dropping the ball.   Tax revenues have exceeded anyone’s faintest ideas of thirty years ago, when casino gaming began.   Government has invented many ways to squander tax money over the last thirty years.   The failure can be placed at the feet of government for not fulfilling the full promise of casino gaming, i.e. little to non-existent property taxes, top-notch services, and a clean city for starters.

It remains left to younger generations to fulfill the promises of casino gaming while cleansing local and state government of the corrupt advocates of growing government and dishing out patronage jobs with tax dollars.

7 Responses »

 

Langford’s Lawyers Wednesday, Feb 4 2009

Press of Atlantic City published an editorial today, which takes Mayor Lorenzo Langford to task for attempting to award legal contracts to his campaign contributors.   Mayor Langford is engaging in pay-to-play and has the nerve to state that his motivation is saving the taxpayer money.

Despite all the talk about ending pay to play, it’s still the same old story in many New Jersey municipalities: Lawyer donates to candidate’s campaign. Candidate wins. Lawyer’s firm gets lucrative public contract.

Trust Atlantic City to take this plot line and run with it for all it’s worth. Not only does Mayor Lorenzo Langford want to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to hire the high-powered law firms that donated generously to his campaign, he cleared the way by firing four of the city’s six staff attorneys and then boasting of the savings to taxpayers.

 Mr. Langford’s pay-to-play is another reminder that Atlantic City is desparately in need of two major reforms: reducing the budget and reducing corruption.

The two law firms – Philadelphia-based Stradley, Ronon, Stevens and Young, and Bergen County-based DeCotiis, Fitzpatrick, Cole and Wisler – gave Langford a total of $45,000 in contributions through his Citizens First political action committee. Now, Langford has presented City Council with contracts for six law firms – a total of up to $505,000 in contracts, with up to $300,000 of that work going to the two firms that donated to Langford’s campaign.

Under these circumstances, voters are quite justified in questioning whether it’s the two law firms – not city taxpayers – who are getting the biggest bang for the buck here.

This June (and maybe December) will show if citizens are outraged over the kickback contracts to Mr. Langford’s Lawyers.   Or are AC voters programmed to accept such flagrant corruption as normal?

The point here is not that Langford’s administration [is] playing in the old pay-to-play game. Take that as a given.

The best commentary is from “Joe” on the Press’s forum:

Hopefully that thumb Langford is waving from his nose to the residents of Atlantic City will get stuck up one of his nostrils.

Atlantic City, Vote NO LANGFORD in 09!

Leave a Response »

 

A Funny and an Apology Tuesday, Feb 3 2009

Here is another apology for my infrequency of blogging.   I hope to get back on track soon.   I have been getting a basement apartment to rentable condition and working several jobs.   It is very tough to stay on top of this blog while refusing to participate in the recession (kudos to Rush Limbaugh for that phrase).

Here is a funny:

You hear about the Dr. who traded prescription drugs for sex?   He was brazen enough to use Craig’s List for his dealings.   The logical next step for him is a position in BHO-BHO’s cabinet.

Support the Atlantic City Scoop by becoming a sponsor of this blog.   Even when I am not frequently posting hundreds of people view this blog.   Send me an e-mail, jesseokurtz@gmail.com, for our “recession rates.”

Leave a Response »