Vol. 5, No. 10, October 2008
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It's Time
No, it’s long past time.
Last month, Assemblymen John Burzichelli and Matt Milam introduced a bill to remove the prohibition against political activity by the 8,900 casino workers who call Atlantic City home—a full one-third of the population.
The bill passed the Assembly Tourism and Gaming committee and now heads to the Senate Wagering, Tourism and Historic Preservation Committee, where former Atlantic City Mayor and now Senator James Whelan leads the panel that will consider it. This is a move I’ve urged state officials to make for 20 years, but it’s been rebuffed at every turn. The people in the casino industry are the most vetted in the state. Even technicians at our nuclear plants don’t go through the regulatory scrutiny that licensed casino workers do.
According to the Casino Control Commission, only 2,800 casino workers are licensed; the rest work outside the actual casino itself. But even non-licensed employees are barred from seeking political office. In 30 years of gaming, we’ve closed the political process to one-third of our residents. Not only do the regulations keep them from running for office, but from participating in the process! A casino employee cannot give money or time to a candidate. During the Whelan administration, casino workers volunteered to help the city get its technological house in order, but could not because of the existing regulations.
This legal prohibition undoubtedly stifled interest in the political process. If you’re told you can’t run for office or work for a candidate, you’re being told you are not good enough to serve the public. It’s an underlying message that comes through loud and clear.
For years, we’ve endured a succession of terrible elected officials, with some exceptions. It peaked recently with the Callaway scandal and its associated impacts on other public officials. By removing the prohibition on Atlantic City residents running for public office, we open up a huge pool of potential candidates, talented people who will finally be able to take charge of the political ramifications on their own lives.
Some question exists whether casino employees can be neutral about issues that impact their properties. This isn’t a problem in other jurisdictions and it won’t be a problem here if elected officials will recuse themselves from decisions on issues that impact their workplace.
Ironically, we’re coming up to a mayoral election where the ill effects of this prohibition are abundantly clear. The election features a former casino employee forced to quit his job when he was elected mayor, and two candidates who probably wouldn’t even be viable if not for the ban on casino employees.
The good news is that the election will only decide who fills the remaining year of the term of the disgraced former mayor, Bob Levy. My fervent hope is that the winner will simply be a caretaker who will do no harm while waiting for a “real” mayor to be elected to a four-year term next November. But my hopes for Atlantic City politicians have been consistently dashed in the past 30 years, so this will probably be no different.
Hopefully, the Burzichelli-Milam bill will be successful. But it needs to sail through the legislature and be signed by Governor Jon Corzine with no changes. Key licensees must be included; the bill should also apply to the state legislature and governor’s office. Right now, all casino employees (not just Atlantic City residents) are prohibited from running for the state legislature or governor. This must end. The same logic that allows them to run for office in Atlantic City also applies at the state level. Is there any other group of people who are prohibited from running for office in the state of New Jersey? I think not.
So let’s all vote on November 4 with the fervent hope that soon we can vote for a casino worker running on the ballot.
