Gov. Christie: The City Has Been Unwilling To Make The Hard, Responsible Choices

Atlantic City, 4-6-2016

Transcript:

Governor Christie: This job needs to be done. The Speaker needs to stop playing politics. The clock is ticking and the people of Atlantic City deserve better, the people of Atlantic County deserve much better. Tens of millions of dollars have had to be refunded out of the county coffers over the last number of years because of the awful assessment history by Atlantic City. Not only effects the taxpayers of Atlantic City, it attacks the broader taxpayers of Atlantic County and then that's left to the County Executive and the Freeholders to have to figure out how they fill those holes. Yet they have done it, because they've been willing to make the hard choices that you need to make when you have responsibility in government. The City's been unwilling to do that. I for one am not going to stand by and let this continue to happen, not on my watch. And so I regret I have to do this, but just remember, remember who the other folks who oppose this are standing with. They are standing with people who are receiving excessive pay, they are standing with people who are making excessive health benefits part of their life. They are also by the way, interestingly, they do not oppose any of the rest of the takeover. Alright think about this, they are not saying we do not want the state to take over the city, all they are saying now is, we just do not want the state to be able to deal with the public sector unions. The Speaker has not objected to one other part of the takeover bill. And you heard all of the authority that we would have in the takeover bill. He has not objected to one piece of that. So let’s put aside this idea you know, of democracy. The people of Atlantic City were abandoned by their local officials a long time ago. You do not get in this kind of shape, with a hundred million dollar deficit annually, and half a billion dollars in debt if you are representing the interest of the people paying the bills. So we understand exactly what this is, the Speaker does not object to the state coming in and taking over significant responsibility. Just do not hurt his political friends. This is about a much bigger issue everybody. This is about the full faith and credit of New Jersey’s cities. Atlantic City will just be the beginning. We have a plan to fix it and stop the harm. We need to implement that plan right away.

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