Just days after opening his campaign office for his long anticipated run for mayor of Atlantic City, City Council Chairman Craig Callaway pulled out of the contest, citing unspecified health issues. Atlantic City Mayor Lorenzo Langford expressed disbelief in Calloway's withdrawal and the reason cited.
Although he carried the Democratic banner in the previous mayoral election, Langford has been denied the party line for the June Democratic primary. Callaway had been granted the party line, but upon his exit, the line was passed onto replacement candidate Bob Levy, the chief of the city's Beach Patrol and former emergency management director.
So the stage is set for one of the most important mayoral elections in recent history. At stake is the direction the city will take, how quickly it will develop and who has the vision and leadership to accomplish those goals.
Casino Connection Editor Roger Gros spoke with both candidates in April.
[Experience Counts]
Lorenzo Langford's first term as mayor of Atlantic City has been nothing like he envisioned. Soon after triumphantly defeating Jim Whelan in 2001, Langford ran afoul of former ally Craig Callaway when he refused to appoint Callaway as director of public works. And thus began a battle of wills that continues to this day. Callaway engineered his own election as a councilman from the city's Second Ward (even though a judge threw out the fraudulent election results, allowing the ward's Democratic committee, controlled by Callaway, to determine the representative). He was later elected by the members of city council to its presidency.
"It's not that I wasn't grateful for what he did for me," explains Langford, of Callaway's assistance in getting him elected. "He just wasn't qualified for the position of public works director. I offered alternatives whereby he could have worked his way into the position, but he wasn't interested."
Callaway vowed to take down the Langford administration, and, even though he recently withdrew from the race due to "health concerns," his resolve is unbroken as he now supports the candidacy of Bob Levy for mayor.
"That shows how desperate he is to unseat me," says Langford. "He'd rather step down as a candidate—something he has a tremendous ambition for—and support someone else if it means that he can take me out."
The situation has made Langford's first term extremely difficult.
"I would love to be able to govern in a situation that is less contentious, less cantankerous, but I've got to play the hand that I'm dealt. I believe God has prepared me for this because nothing has ever come easy for me in my life. I've grown accustomed to this. I hold to the old adage, ‘Do thy duty to thy best, leave it to the Lord the rest.'
"In spite of all the roadblocks that have been put before us and the stated objectives of the council president to destroy this administration and not work cooperatively with us, we've had tremendous successes."
[The Hard Way]
Langford knows travail and difficulties (including the death of his chronically ill daughter during his first term). In his pursuit of elective office, Langford has overcome some obstacles that an ordinary businessman would not have to confront.
Upon his election to city council in 1994, Langford was forced to resign from his chosen profession, the gaming industry. The Casino Control Act prohibits casino employees from holding public office in Atlantic City or at the state level, a law which has never really been challenged.
Langford began his career as a dealer at the Playboy casino, was promoted to supervisor as Playboy became Atlantis, and finally became a pit boss at Trump Taj Mahal. But once he was elected to public office in Atlantic City, Langford had to give up his position to serve the public.
Nonetheless, he believes his experience in the gaming industry works well for him as mayor of Atlantic City.
"I understand the city from a resident's perspective, but I'm also a casino person," he says. "So I am uniquely qualified and suited to serve in this position. I understand very well the needs of both."
That doesn't mean, however, that he is simply a cheerleader for the industry.
"There are times when the interest of residents and the interest of the industry converge and that is beautiful," he says. "But there are also times when the interests are not going in the same direction and in fact are divergent. When that happens, I must first consider the interests of those of us who live here, pay taxes and send folks like me to office to represent them. But because I have a relationship and a reputation in the industry, I'm able to bring both sides together with each side having confidence in my reputation."
Because he felt the sting of having to give up his chosen profession, Langford would like to make it easier for casino employees and executives to run for office in Atlantic City.
"I'd like to see the law changed for one major reason," he says. "The law is discriminatory. As Atlantic City residents, we ought to be able to enjoy the same privileges as any other city. If you live in Brigantine or Ventnor, you can serve on city council. Given that the city neither regulates nor legislates casinos, what's the conflict? The state does that, so we're in no different position than Ventnor or Brigantine.
"It's also discriminatory against casino employees in general. The casino industry happens to be the major employer in Atlantic City. In New Brunswick, the major employer is Johnson & Johnson. You don't say to employees of Johnson & Johnson that they can't serve in city government in New Brunswick, so why tell a casino employee that he can't serve in the government of Atlantic City? There are major industries in every city in the state where the employees of that industry are permitted to hold office, but not in Atlantic City."
[Financial Fortunes]
Upon taking office, Langford faced a budget crisis that he says was created by the Whelan administration. In order to close the budget deficit, he was forced to raise property taxes. But since then, every budget the Langford administration has proposed has included a tax decrease.
"The financial condition of the city is better today than it was four years ago," he states. "Two important Wall Street firms, Standard & Poors and Moody's, both agree that we're doing a good job and have given Atlantic City a good rating. Three out of the four budgets we've submitted to city council have recommended tax decreases. We cut the city's debt by $30 million. At the same time we increased our surplus. The local purpose tax when I took office was 1.87; it's now 1.78."
Although much of the current development in Atlantic City was under way prior to his election, Langford continues to spearhead efforts to redevelop other parts of the city, but points to his success at transforming the beach and Boardwalk.
"Economic development in the city of Atlantic City is red hot," he says. "We were able to get the beach replenishment project accomplished, which tripled the size of our beach. And we were able to do what the previous administration refused to do, pass legislation that allowed for beach bars on the Boardwalk. As a result of those two things, the image of Atlantic City has improved. Last year, Travelocity.com named the city one of the top ten beaches in the United States. We went from the worst-of list to the best-of list. The previous administration refused to push for this legislation. We took the chance and the results speak for themselves."
Langford says the Boardwalk and the beach are the city's most precious natural resources. "They are our crown jewel," he says. "We can't spend enough to beautify the Boardwalk and the beach. We formed a Boardwalk committee of civilians tasked to come up with recommendations with city help to beautify the Boardwalk. One small result was the Peter Max mural on the wall of the West Hall. We have doubled the wattage to make it more festive and create an atmosphere of safety by just illuminating the Boardwalk. Along with the CRDA and SID, we instituted a Boardwalk façade program and a beautification program where we put in planters. Our public works has been busy painting and rebuilding some of the pavilions."
While Langford points out that the city neither regulates nor legislates casinos, he says the mayor can certainly encourage more gaming development.
"If you have a situation where the city owns land where a prospective casino operator would like to build, you can have some influence," he explains. "But if the land is privately owned, there's not much that the city or the mayor can do. But we can foster a climate that suggests economic development is plausible in the city of Atlantic City. When we have occasion to grant certain approvals, whether it is planning board or zoning board, we need to be responsive and immediate. We need to streamline the process. When you need inspections for construction, code enforcement, mercantile or the sanitation division of our health department, we need to make sure we streamline and expedite the process. Most of all, we need to support, in an open way, that kind of development."
As mayor, Langford has made himself available to any group wanting to bring more casino development to Atlantic City.
One of the last large pieces of land owned by the city is Bader Field. The Federal Aviation Authority requires that the city maintain Bader Field as an airport until September 2006, but after that, all bets are off. City council last month held a meeting concerning ideas for the development of the land, although Langford contends the responsibility rests with his administration, not council.
"The actions of city council were in response to my actions," he says. "I sent a letter to the residents of Chelsea Heights. Whatever happens at Bader Field, the negative impacts, if there are any, will be felt by those residents. First, I wanted to know what they felt."
The response from residents was wide and varied, says Langford.
"Some folks want to keep it as an airport," he says. "Others want the theme of recreation like we've started with the ball field. Some want to take advantage of the waterfront and build nice homes in that area. Even others want to see a Disney-style theme park or re-zone it for casinos. We're getting all kinds of suggestions.
"But the bottom line is that we need to develop it for the highest and best use. It is one of the last parcels that the city owns and therefore represents one of the last opportunities to maximize our potential."
[Public Safety]
The mayoral campaign has brought the issue of public safety to the forefront. The Langford administration has been in an ongoing feud with the local police union over a contract, which expired in 2004.
The issues were exacerbated over the winter when there were several shootings in the Stanley Holmes Village, adjacent to the new New York Avenue school. Langford says that while even one incident is too many, there has actually been a reduction in violence in that area and across the city over his administration.
"I think my opponents are exaggerating when they say the violence there is out of control," he states. "There are those who have a vested interest in creating a perception that things are much worse than they are. But the reality is that the situation in and around Stanley Homes Village and the New York Avenue School is not nearly as bad as they say it is."
Nonetheless, Langford has made a commitment to attempt to reduce the violence.
"We've had meetings with the New Jersey attorney general, the housing authority and the school board," he says. "Cameras have been installed on the buildings. There is an increased police presence. I have dispatched my personal security to be there during recess when the children are outside. The police officers are concentrating on the school."
According to a study commissioned by the Atlantic City Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Casino Association of New Jersey and conducted by Mitchell & Titus, the police department is overstaffed, with uniformed officers performing duties that could be better handled by civilians.
Langford explains that he tried to implement a part of the study that suggested replacing the uniformed officers with civilians and putting the officers on the street, but was thwarted by council.
"We asked the chief of police how many positions currently being filled by uniformed police officers that we can civilianize," Langford explains. "They told us 19 positions, although there are clearly more than that. So we identified the 19, took that aggregate amount and put it into the budget. We sent a salary ordinance to city council creating the 19 civilian positions. But council voted it down and took the money out of the budget. So while the administration is doing what has been suggested, council has continued to sabotage what we are trying to do. At the same time, it is council that is saying we do not have enough police officers. So which is it?"
Langford plans to return to the casino industry when his time in office is up, but he's not ready for that to end just yet.
"We've only just begun to make a difference," he says. "If I get four more years to implement my vision of Atlantic City, I think we can lay the groundwork for a successful city government for many years into the future."
By Roger Gros
Roger Gros is publisher of Casino Connection and Global Gaming Business, a the industry’s leading gaming trade publication. Prior to joining Global Gaming Business, Gros was president of Inlet Communications, an independent consulting firm. He was vice president of Casino Journal Publishing Group from 1984-2000, and held virtually every editorial title during his tenure. Gros was editor of Casino Journal, the National Gaming Summary and the Atlantic City Insider, and was the founding editor of Casino Player magazine. He was a co-founder of the American Gaming Summit and the Southern Gaming Summit conferences and trade shows. He is the author of the best-selling book, How to Win at Casino Gambling (Carlton Books, 1995), now in its third edition. Gros was named “Businessman of the Year” for 1998 by the Greater Atlantic City Chamber of Commerce.
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