The Worst City Government
The Worst City Government Recently, Atlantic City popped its cork for the opening of Donald Trump's billion-dollar Taj Mahal casino, where the "Michelangelo Suite" goes for $10,000 a...
...But the profits haven't trickled down to the 36.000 residents left behind when the tour buses roll out of town...
...Atlantic City used to be a dump," an industry analyst recently explained to the Los Angeles Times...
...All 18 local movie theaters have closed...
...Last summer, Money magazine crowned the resort town "the most unlivable city in America...
...The city has 12 gambling palaces but only one full-service supermarket...
...Before the legalization of gambling, Atlantic City's main attractions were nostalgic ones: Miss America pageants, big bands, and saltwater taffy...
...Rivers and Clyburn, both friends of the mayor, are currently on trial for bribery and conspiracy...
...In January, Atlantic City's mayor, James L. Usry, and 13 political associates were indicted on bribery and corruption charges in a scheme the U.S...
...A related incident offers a clue...
...The child's father ended up driving her to the hospital where she was successfully treated...
...These days, one-half of the city's population receives public assistance, and despite a labor shortage, people continue to leave...
...But the ambulance never came...
...Now it's a dump with casinos...
...In New York City the annual salary is $45,000...
...The guy kept reassuring me that an ambulance was on its way," she said...
...An update: >Not everyone is enthusiastic about the mayor's attempt at a comeback...
...In nearby Baltimore, it's $24,500...
...Today, Mayor Usry, former president of the National Conference of Black Mayors, is busy raising campaign cash and blithely predicting a November reelection—a self-confidence understandable only in context...
...council members are getting nearly triple that for a part-time job...
...Court papers allege that for the relatively low stakes of $60,000, an undercover informant received zoning variances, airport concessions, rent-control exceptions, and a lucrative electric-cart franchise on the boardwalk...
...Daniel Kaufman The Monthly depends on its readers to keep track of the breakdown of bigcity government...
...JMC is one of three companies owned by friends of Clyburn that, together with Clyburn's own company, have received over $2 million worth of contracts from the department...
...Many city workers have complained of pressure from their superiors to contribute to Barry's legal defense fund...
...This is my 76th day of being clean of any chemical," Barry announced...
...Today, 30 million tourists decamp at the casinos every year, dropping $60 million into city coffers annually, and making Atlantic City the top tourist draw in the country...
...JMC actually did not exist, except on paper, until it received its first contract from the city for $216,000...
...Also under indictment for bribery, conspiracy, influence peddling, and official misconduct are the president of the city council, two council members, and the commissioner of the city zoning board...
...paramedic, is alleged to have turned in fake time sheets totaling $18,000...
...During the eighties, the city's violent crime tripled, despite a population plunge of 15 percent...
...20009...
...She called 911...
...Katherine Boo On April 6, D.C...
...Chicago aldermen pull down a mere $27,600 a year...
...Department of Human Services recommended that a company called JMC be dropped because of poor performance and high costs, thendirector David Rivers reassured his friend John Clyburn, a JMC advisor, that he was "keeping a lid on" the complaints...
...Scandal is routine in Atlantic City, where four of the last six mayors have been indicted for corruption...
...How could such a thing happen...
...On April Fools' Day, members of the District's city council got a salary hike from $69,500 to $71,885 a year...
...Things haven't been looking quite as rosy for the rest of the District, however...
...Wayne Paxton, a D.C...
...attorney termed "a government for sale...
...Last year, D.C...
...They say it was an accident, but even at the old salary they were receiving more than other big-city councils...
...Please send your nominations to: Worst City Government The Washington Monthly 1611 Connecticut Ave...
...Last March, Diane Evans awoke to find her year-old daughter blue from lack of oxygen...
...When the Casino Control Act legalized gambling in 1977, Atlantic City officials hyped gaming as "a unique tool of urban redevelopment...
...The Worst City Government Recently, Atlantic City popped its cork for the opening of Donald Trump's billion-dollar Taj Mahal casino, where the "Michelangelo Suite" goes for $10,000 a night and the tables promise million-dollar jackpots...
...But after 13 years of crap games and municipal corruption, the promise has tapped out...
...But just a few blocks away, New Jersey state investigators are examining a different kind of payoff...
...The complaints began when JMC requested an 18 percent funding increase after having taken five months to deliver any services...
...When members of the D.C...
...The eight-month investigation by state police netted more than just the popular Republican mayor...
...Mayor Marion Barry was celebrating...
...public schools had an average of 45 fire code violations including blocked or missing fire doors, empty fire extinguishers, broken alarms, and painted-over smoke detectors...
...NW Washington, D.C...
Vol. 22 • May 1990 • No. 4
