Johnson, who was appointed by Murphy in February, lays out a path forward for Atlantic City in his report.
But current officials are hoping to take a softer approach than the previous administration, emphasizing that they want to partner with the city rather than overrule it. Now, the Murphy administration is seeking to keep that regime in place. The administration also negotiated an end to several multimillion-dollar tax appeals by city casinos. Once the takeover took effect, officials with the Christie administration rewrote public worker contracts with several departments, including the police and firefighters, despite objections from union members. Former Atlantic City Mayor Don Guardian, a Republican, called it a “fascist dictatorship.”
Local and state officials bristled at what they considered a hostile takeover by the Christie administration. At the time, the resort town was facing an increasing budget deficit and a ballooning half-billion dollars in debt. WHYY thanks our sponsors - become a WHYY sponsorĬhristie put Atlantic City under state control in November 2016 amid fears that the city would declare bankruptcy.
