Atlantic City – Hank Kalet

Well now everything dies baby that’s a fact

But maybe everything that dies someday comes back
Put your makeup on fix your hair up pretty
And meet me tonight in Atlantic City
— Bruce Springsteen, “Atlantic City”

I mentioned this yesterday, but I want to expand a bit on it. The governor is proposing a long overdue overhaul of the state’s gaming and sports bureaucracy, but one that may not go nearly far enough.

Here is what the Ledger has reported about the plan:

Among the recommendations contained in the report, which was reviewed by the newspaper:

• The state would seek to transform Atlantic City into a convention and family friendly resort, including a major expansion of the boardwalk that would include amusement rides. The entertainment areas would be placed under the control of a new state authority, essentially turning it into an independent city within a city.

• Money from the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, now shared throughout the state, would stay in Atlantic City for projects and improvements there.

• The Meadowlands Racetrack could be sold for a token $1, or turned into an off-track wagering facility without live horse racing.

• The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority would be all but disbanded, becoming simply a landlord for the facilities it now operates. The Izod Center arena in the Meadowlands could be privatized or sold.

• The state would help re-finance the long-stalled Xanadu project in the Meadowlands, enabling a new developer to take control of the garish, high-visibility retail and entertainment complex alongside the New Jersey Turnpike that many consider an embarrassment.

The dysfunction that has crippled these interlocked industries has to be addressed and I think that the governor is right to move forward with a complete restructuring. The question is whether the plan goes far enough toward disengaging the state from industries that should be private.

I would argue that the state should get out of the stadium building and leasing business altogether, get out of the management of racetracks and sell the businesses and properties to private hands during an open bidding process. The state should then create a set of stringent regulations covering both at-track and off-track betting. As part of the move, the state should make it clear that there will be no subsidies in the future for tracks, football teams and concerts and that the businesses will have to pay their way, including the overtime that might be due to police as a result of a major event.

Entertainment, afterall, is not the kind of service government needs to provide. Goverment’s role is to assist those who need help, to protect the citizenry (with police and environmental, safety, consumer and health watchdogs) and to provide services and facilities that are needed by society as a whole (such as roads, schools, health centers — which we should provide, but don’t).

The government’s job should not include construction of a massive football stadium that will be used by two teams and for some college games. Leave that to the private sector.

Atlantic City poses a different set of issues, given the way in which it was created as a gaming town (via statewide referendum) and the need for heavy regulation. The governor’s proposal — to take over the gaming districts and impose a new vision on them — seems to make sense. The city needs to be more than a gambling destination — as things stand now, the casinos are designed to keep you from wanting to go outside, the beach and boardwalk are not very accessible and the outlet shopping near the casino district is no different than outlet shopping anywhere else, except for the lower sales tax.

The casino experiment in New Jersey has gone on for a long time, but it cannot be called a success. Atlantic City remains a depressed city and has been losing out ot other areas for years. It is not a resort destination, by any stretch of the imagination and stands as one of the least interesting Shore towns in the state.

It’s time to change things.

As Mark Di Ionno points out today, the sports and entertainment industries are “a billionaire’s game these days, not something taxpayers should shoulder.”