Vol. 3, No. 10, October 2006
RSS Feeds
Interview with Sen. William Gormley
William Gormley has been a part of Atlantic City for his entire life. The son of the Atlantic County Sheriff, Gormley is a former Marine, a graduate of Notre Dame, and former two-term state assemblyman. He was elected to the state Senate in 1982 and has led the redevelopment of Atlantic City since then. Sometimes referred to as the “boss” of Atlantic City—a term he disdains—it is true that any legislative measure affecting Atlantic City must go through his office before it would be considered by the full state legislature. With Democratic Governor Jon Corzine in office, and the state legislature controlled by the Democrats, Republican Gormley would seem to be on the outside looking in. But he’s more powerful than ever after parlaying support for the governor against the opposition of Corzine’s own party during July’s state shutdown. Gormley discusses how this came about as well as the future of Atlantic City with Casino Connection Editor Roger Gros, who interviewed Gormley in his Hamilton Township office in August.
Casino Connection: Many people were shocked with the state shutdown over the budget impasse. Did it surprise you that much, being on the inside?
Gormley: I didn’t think the Assembly Democrats would be that misguided, and frankly, that dumb! This scenario had come up three years before when I was again fighting tax increases, and it was ruled at the time that the casinos would have to close because they were subject to the appropriations act even though they had their own independent source of money. I then checked with legislative services in Trenton, the people who actually write the laws, and they said it was best to have legislation to take the casino funding process out of the appropriations act.
So I put the bill in and it sat for three years. The Democrats (who controlled the legislature during that time) did not move it. So I knew this would be a problem.
As we got closer to the budget deadline, there I am working with the governor in a bipartisan fashion, and I’m agreeing with him! I think it was a good budget in general, but also I didn’t want to see Atlantic City affected.
The budget that was eventually accepted he gave to the Democrats on June 21, with a deadline of June 30. It took the three days of Atlantic City casinos being closed before they agreed to it.
So now, they’re trying to implement this legislation that is essentially my legislation from three years ago.
I was surprised at the total disconnect that the Democratic Party had for the wellbeing of this region.
We’ve heard a lot about the Camden County Democrats trying to control Atlantic County. Do you believe that is happening and what are you doing to try to prevent that?
We have a very strong governor now. That era is over. He has established that he is the chief executive.
The legislative team from Atlantic County has usually been united in what’s best for the county, but now there seems to be a divide between you, Assemblyman Blee and Assemblyman Whelan. How did that happen?
I think you’ll see that whatever Whelan called an accomplishment as mayor, I had to do the legislation to get it done. I think that’s a very fair characterization. Whether it’s the tunnel or the convention center, I had to do the funding. Or the refurbishing of the Boardwalk Hall, which he opposed, which is now the finest arena in the country, I think you’ll find that I had to put the legislation together to do it.
I find this to be a unique situation. I had to wind up defending the governor from his party. The governor has a better understanding of the economy of this region than any governor I’ve ever worked with. And Jim Whelan was attacking the governor. He claimed he was standing up to the governor but in reality he wasn’t standing up to Camden County. He has a certain loyalty to (Assembly Speaker) Joe Roberts and the Camden Democrats, and he decided that outweighed his loyalty to his governor. And that’s fine; that’s his choice.
I have never not worked with Jim Whelan. I have always been there for the district; that’s my reputation. You have to understand something. They wanted Jon Corzine to do a casino tax since January, June and in the July budget that never got out of committee. He simply said ‘No.’”
If anything, I could have been criticized for not going along with the Republicans! Look at (Second District Assemblyman) Frank Blee. He was the only Republican to vote for the budget and vote for the sales tax because he was standing up for the district.
I want to concentrate on bringing tens of millions of dollars of construction money and thousands of jobs to the district to ensure the long-term viability of the economy in the district I represent. What Jim Whelan did was sad, and it befuddles people.
What is your current relationship with Gov. Corzine?
Obviously, we have never had a governor who is a past president of Goldman Sachs, but I have never seen somebody with such business acumen with an understanding of what this market is and its potential. I really enjoy working with him. When you meet with him, it’s a conversation; it’s a genuine give-and-take. He really is seeking input and he listens well. And he’s spent $100 million to put himself in office, so I’ve got to give him the benefit of the doubt!
Casino executives think they’re talking to a peer in terms of business, someone they can talk to directly who really wants to see the market flourish. Corzine and his team understand economics. They understand markets. So when you talk to a Donald Trump or Gary Loveman, they get it! They’re not prefacing it with, “Let me explain EBITDA” or “Let me explain what’s going on here.” The governor and his staff get it.
Has he been misquoted or misunderstood when he said he wanted to consider VLTs at the Meadowlands to compete with VLTs in NY state?
Yes. He was at a meeting with the industry, and asked, “What are we going to do about VLTs in other states?” He brought it up. His only meaning was that he wanted to work together with the industry to protect it. This has been confirmed by all who attended the meeting.
Let’s look at the Democrats’ track record. They’ve proposed raising the casino tax multiple times. They opposed a governor in their own party who didn’t want to do that. And now they have criticized him for discussing how we can work together as a team to mitigate this issue. And what have they done for the industry lately? They’ve proposed sports betting. But it’s illegal! I would love to have sports betting, and supported it when it was possible to have passed it. But where were they when it came to passing a bill that would have avoided the closing of the casinos? They’re trying to play catch-up with their constituents and it’s not going to work.
AC is very hot right now. Many gaming companies are considering building or locating here. What are you doing to encourage this?
We now have a governor who understands business and what the casino industry means to Atlantic City. There are no longer any political bosses. There’s nobody you have to hire. Hire who you think is the best, the brightest, the most honest. That open door and level of integrity is most important. And if you have integrity and a stable tax environment, those are the two key elements to attracting business and the capital markets to our region.
The projects that are on the board are just getting bigger. Every time I talk to one of these companies, they’re adding $100 million or $200 million to their plans. Another tower here, another amenity there. That’s what’s happening.
We have a governor now who might leave it alone! Sometimes that’s a great strategy. All we know is we have something that’s working now!
