AC Mayor issues dire warning for expanded casino gambling
Next November, by virtue of an agreement at the Statehouse, you'll be asked at the voting booth whether to change New Jersey's constitution to allow construction of two new gambling casinos in New Jersey.
It would be the biggest change in New Jersey casino gambling since its introduction in 1978 - and the wrong one, says Atlantic City Mayor Don Guardian.
The referendum won't specify locations, but they would be at least 75 miles away from Atlantic City. Proposals have already been developed for the Meadowlands and for Jersey City.
Guardian stands dead-set against expansion, on the grounds that the saturated market presents no guarantee of success for any new enterprise, anywhere in New Jersey.
"There are currently 19 casinos surrounding New Jersey and four more proposed," Guardian said in the context of his remarks. "There is simply no more room for more casinos."
Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Delaware and Maryland grabbed the ball that New Jersey fumbled in AC, Guardian said, and "broken promises" leave a ripple effect of affected livelihoods. In addition to 8,000 or so idled workers, he cites a litany of occupations that served them - cabbies, restaurant workers, doctors, bankers, teachers, and real estate agents, for starters.
Taxes on new casinos would be substantially higher than the eight percent paid in AC. Revenues would, in part, support Atlantic City, horse racing, and municipal aid for seniors and those with disabilities. Guardian responds that it simply won't happen.
Guardian predicted an aggregate loss of 14,000 jobs, more than $230 million in lost wages and the taxes that apply to them, and damage to New Jersey's room, luxury and parking taxes.
He likened it to "...putting a Dunkin Donuts on every street corner at a four-way intersection. It will be impossible for all four businesses to survive."
The Mayor conducts regulary-scheduled dialogues with listeners of Townsquare Media's WPG in Atlantic City, during "Ask The Mayor," moderated by Harry Hurley.
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