Atlantic City - Fish just jumped in the boat here.

By Mouser the King Cat

Atlantic City is an urban hellhole with a boardwalk, a shrinking number of casinos battered by competition in neighboring states, and streets with names off the Monopoly board. Now comes this from its newspaper, The Press:

Mayor Don Guardian announced Monday that without a short-term state loan, the city’s government would shut down from April 8 to May 2, except for essential services like police and fire. Those employees will work without pay for 24 days and be reimbursed once the city receives its second-quarter property tax payment May 1. Non-essential services employees will not work during that three-week period.

 

So will a check for $8.5 million be in the mail from Trenton? Apparently not.

 

Gov. Chris Christie said at a news conference Tuesday that the state won't loan the city money and that a takeover measure passed by the Senate should be approved by the Assembly. "So, the mayor can decide to do one of two things: Either cooperate, along with Speaker (Vincent) Prieto, or the inevitable will occur," Christie said. "And the inevitable is that they will face bankruptcy and if they do, then the bankruptcy court will control their fate, not the state of New Jersey. If that is what they prefer, it is their choice." A takeover bill passed in the Senate would let the state sell city assets, eliminate departments and terminate collective bargaining agreements, among other powers for five years to fix the city's shaky finances.

 

Police and fire services will not be affected by the shutdown. Also rest assured the roulette wheels will continue to spin, the slot machines will continue to fleece suckers, the hookers are still gonna be hookin', and drug deals will go down as scheduled.

 

I’ll close with this lovely note: Volunteers are organizing to provide some basic services, such as transportation for seniors. Virgina Darnell, president of the Atlantic City White Collar Professional Association, is threatening legal action should any city employee’s duties be performed by a member of the public, calling it “a violation of our contract.”