Council president expected to be named Atlantic City mayor

By Associated Press AP

PUBLISHED 9:20 AM ET Oct. 15, 2019

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — For over a decade, things had been quiet in Atlantic City, the seaside gambling resort known as much for its colorful political corruption as for its slot machines and saltwater taffy.

But that came to an end this month when Mayor Frank Gilliam Jr. pleaded guilty to wire fraud, admitting in a federal courtroom that he had stolen $87,000 from a youth basketball club he founded and spent much of the money on himself.

He became the fifth Atlantic City mayor to be busted on corruption charges since the 1970s. The city's history of graft and dirty-dealings at City Hall is so rich that HBO based the award-winning TV series "Boardwalk Empire" on it, focusing on turn-of-the-century politicians and crooks.

Tuesday evening, Atlantic City will get its next mayor, and it's expected to be a councilman who lost to Gilliam in a bitterly fought primary two years ago.

Council President Marty Small took over as acting mayor when Gilliam resigned on Oct. 3 and is expected to be chosen by the City Council to serve as mayor for just over a year. In the November 2020 general election, a candidate will be elected to serve the remaining final year of Gilliam's term.

On Tuesday, the council will choose among three nominees put forth by the city's Democratic party: Small, Pamela Thomas-Fields and Gwendolyn Callaway Lewis. Both women have said they support Small's bid, and a majority of the nine-member council has said it will vote to install Small as mayor.

"I'm humbled and honored that the Democratic committee nominated me," Small told The Associated Press. "It shows they have confidence in me. I'm going to do the best job I can do if I'm selected by the council. I asked all of them for their support, and I hope I receive that support."

The next mayor faces an array of tough problems, including a state takeover of most important functions of government. New Jersey, under former Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, and a Democratic-controlled Legislature that concluded the city either could not or would not make the painful choices necessary to get its fiscal house in order.

Meanwhile, a group led by a former state senator and the head of Atlantic City's main casino workers union is conducting a petition drive to change the way Atlantic City governs itself.

Atlantic City Residents for Good Government's wants to force a referendum on downsizing the council and eliminating a directly elected mayor. Instead, the council would hire a city manager. That effort is already meeting resistance from some elected officials and residents long wary of outside control of the city and the millions in taxes it generates.

The tax burden on property owners has drastically increased in recent years, discouraging home ownership and investment in the city.

And the casino industry, the city's main employer, is dealing with the effects of last year's expansion that added two more gambling halls to the seven that were already in existence, resulting in lower profits for the industry as a whole.

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