newjerseynewsroom.com

BY SUZANNE CLOUD

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

COMMENTARY

We need another Mrs. Sabatini right now. In case anyone has forgotten, Claire Sabatini was one of a feisty few who fought Donald Trump and a state agency called the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority (CRDA) over eminent domain issues concerning her family's Italian restaurant in Atlantic City back in 1993.

You see, the CRDA had made a separate deal with The Donald so he could expand his casino, and the agency wanted to mow down Mrs. Sabatini's restaurant and a few other places to accommodate the puffy-haired gazillionaire. The CRDA, giddily anxious to suck up to Trump, threatened to frog march Sabatini out of her place of business (family-owned since 1965) in handcuffs if she didn't sell at the price Trump was offering.

It was the classic David and Goliath tale set in Damon Runyon dialect, but it wasn't funny. Sabatini and the others held firm and so did the classic narrative; she kicked Trump's ass with a Superior Court decision in 1998 that Trump hadn't put enough concrete assurances in his request for "eminent domain" that assured that the land he was taking would benefit the public. The judge suspected the common good had very little to do with Trump's request.

Fast forward to 2011 — the New Jersey state legislature will vote this Thursday to create a state-run tourism district involving the casinos, the beaches, the boardwalk, outlet stores, and a "Vegas Style" nightclub area. A yes vote will give the casino-dominated CRDA even more power and the owners are drooling down their shirt fronts at the thought of less state regulation and less interference by the local yokels, many of whom are not very enthused about this take-over of their historic city.

Mayor Lorenzo Langford is livid and has been accusing the Christie administration of leaving him "out of the loop" during the planning of this new tourism district in his cash-strapped resort. He's worried about local police being pulled off their regular beats fighting crime to courteously provide a feeling of security to the swanks that show up to gamble. Nice use of resources. Better to collar a bothersome panhandler on the boardwalk rather than chase down thugs bullying citizens or a murderer stalking a neighborhood.

Of course, Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D., Gloucester), a major sponsor of the bill, is defending the breakneck speed of implementation (from the July 2010 report to the vote on January 6th) and crying that the mayor or any other local officials never tried to reach out to him. In an all-you had-to-do-was-ask attitude, Senator James Whelan (D., Atlantic County) was quoted as saying he didn't care much about "who has come to the dance late or who called who or who didn't call who." Too late? This rationale reads better than a traditional boardwalk shell game. The Atlantic City residents can almost hear the lamentations: What a shame. Move on, folks, you lost. Better luck next time.

When CEOs are tripping over their ties, racing toward a major power grab that involves an awful lot of money, some things get forgotten. Things like all the promises that were made to the residents of Atlantic City back in the 1970s when New Jersey voters were asked to permit casino gambling. Just think of it, they said, the city will get tons of money and all the urban blight will be a thing of the past. Atlantic City will be restored to its former glory! And various permutations on that optimistic theme. Didn't happen.

What did happen was that the promises were gleefully ignored in the race for money and glitz. The CRDA bulldozed hundreds of homes and businesses to make way for the casinos, with little to show for it in the local neighborhoods. Even the historic Kentucky Avenue nightclub district, a precious part of African-American history and culture, was stupidly razed by the CRDA for a dumb strip mall in 1996. But hey, Atlantic City is getting a brand spanking new "Vegas Style" nightclub area! Who needs a slice of real history when we can create our own fake stuff to bring in the marks?

Not too many stakeholders that will be impacted by this legislation were contacted prior to introduction of this 160-page bill. Public hearings? Forgeddaboutit. Giving all this juice to the casino owners through the power of the CRDA, after this agency's long history of pillage and plunder, is downright foolish. And it definitely should not be voted on until everyone knows what concrete assurances the casino operators are making that "eminent domain" will only be used for the public good, not the good of the fat cats sharpening their nails on the public weal.

Mrs. Sabatini died this year, a few months prior to the release of the Christie Administration report that recommended the CRDA start gutting her beloved town again. Her obituary noted that she was glad she fought the good fight back in the day against Trump and the CRDA: "I think we were an example to a lot of little people out there sticking up for themselves against the rich and powerful."

Who's going to stand up this time?

Suzanne Cloud Tapper PhD; Writer/Editor/Researcher can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it