‘Atlantic City is Dying’

Gambling promised to pave the streets of Atlantic City with gold.

Never happened!

Instead, Gambling brought crime, homelessness, community destruction, lost local businesses, poverty, higher unemployment than pre-casinos, and much else.

Gambling Cheerleaders blinded by the glitter ignore facts.

Gambling represents a betrayal of government's commitment to the Common Good.

How pathetic we have become as a nation when we fail to question.

Dianne M. Berlin

Is FLEECING in AC on its death bed??

Originally published December 21, 2012

With Gambling Expansion in Mid-Atlantic, ‘Atlantic City is Dying’

COLLEGE PARK - When Superstorm Sandy put Atlantic City under water, it dealt another blow to a city already reeling financially from the economic downturn and recent casino expansion throughout the Mid-Atlantic region.

The explosion of newly legalized casinos over the last decade in neighboring states--New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware--has eroded the monopoly that Atlantic City once held on Mid-Atlantic gambling.

Now, after the passage of Question 7, Maryland will soon be home to six full-service casinos, cutting another slice from a regional gambling pie that is not expanding.

“There is $6 billion in gaming for the whole region,” said Bob McDevitt, the president of Unite Here Local 54, the union representing Atlantic City casino workers. “The casino in Queens has had an impact, and Pennsylvania has had a devastating impact. Almost $2 billion has moved to Pennsylvania from Atlantic City in gambling revenue.”
Revenue at Atlantic City casinos peaked in 2006 at $5.2 billion, according to data from the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Around the same time, five casinos opened in Pennsylvania, which had just legalized casino gambling, and revenues in Atlantic City began to slip.

As Pennsylvania continued to open casinos (there are currently 11), Delaware horse tracks morphed into racinos, and slot machine parlors opened in New York City, Atlantic City casino revenues fell off a cliff. From 2006 to 2011, Atlantic City casino revenues fell over 36 percent.

And with the revenue has gone the jobs. From 2006 to 2011, Atlantic City lost 12,220 casino jobs, while Pennsylvania gained 11,850 casino jobs over the same period.

“The damage that’s been done has been done, Maryland won’t have that much of an impact,” McDevitt said. “The real impact has been Delaware. When they developed the three casinos in Delaware, they gave people the opportunity to not drive the extra hour and a half to Atlantic City from the D.C. and Baltimore areas.”

Tony Rodio, the president of the Tropicana Casino and Resort and head of the Casino Association of New Jersey, said the success of year-round residents in Atlantic City and the surrounding areas correlates with the casinos’ success.

“When the casino industry is not doing as well, there are not as many hours to be worked, not as many jobs to be had and our local suppliers don’t get as much service requests,” Rodio said.

As casino jobs disappeared, the unemployment rate soared. It was 12.9 percent in October, ranking Atlantic City 362nd out of the 372 metropolitan areas that the Bureau of Labor and Statistics tracks.

While tax revenue has obviously fallen as the casinos draw in less money, demand for social services has spiked. In the last five years, food stamp recipients in Atlantic County, N.J., (home to Atlantic City) have doubled, according to the New Jersey Department of Human Services.

“People asking for help are usually families that are underemployed. They might work in the casino industry, in the kitchens or housekeeping-type jobs,” said Tom Davidson, director of development at Atlantic City Rescue Mission, a local shelter and food pantry.

Davidson has seen a steady increase of people asking for help—including families in crisis who receive one of 250 emergency food baskets every month.

Over the last six years, families receiving assistance from the Community FoodBank of New Jersey nearly doubled, said Margie Barham, the food bank’s southern Jersey executive director.

The rise in families applying for charitable assistance mirrors the rise of unemployment and underemployment in the state, said Diane Riley, the food bank’s director of advocacy.

“People are not making enough. They have to pay their rent first and then perhaps supplementing their food,” Barham said. “They get on food stamps, go to food pantries, try to do whatever they can.”

Sandy has just exacerbated the underlying problems.

“No one is coming to the casinos because half our market is underwater,” McDevitt said. “Half our members haven’t worked since the storm.”

The struggles of workers deepen when the casino business and tourism slows down. The Casino Association of New Jersey calculates that casino resorts support more than 100,000 New Jersey jobs, either directly or indirectly--including construction workers, security guards and vendors. Many residents with jobs tied to the gaming industry end up working only eight months a year, Davidson said.

“A lot of people have learned to deal with it. They will patch two or three jobs together,” Davidson said. He added that these workers often need extra food or clothing to carry them through the rest of the year.

The impact of the industry’s shrinking revenue goes beyond the Atlantic City boardwalk. For nearly 30 years, the casinos invested more than $1.5 billion in housing and development projects in Atlantic City. The projects, which are administered by the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, included building renovations, the construction of parks and community gardens. The funds also supported homeownership programs and hotel expansions.

In addition to being Atlantic City’s economic engine, the gaming industry is also critical to New Jersey’s economy. Casinos spend billions with small independent vendors throughout the entire state. The industry also pumps nearly $1 billion in tax money at the state and local level--half of which provides housing, transportation and medical assistance for the state’s elderly and disabled. Last year, the tax revenues coming directly from casinos: $277.6 million.

Gov. Chris Christie knew this when he took matters into his hands in a state-led effort to revive the struggling city.

“Atlantic City is dying,” Christie pronounced in 2010; when he proposed to turn the city into a world-class resort filled with spas, fine dining, entertainment and retail that would attract people who want to vacation there.

This September, Atlantic City’s plan to use new attractions to pull in more customers and create more jobs received a blow when Hard Rock International decided not to build a hotel-casino in the city. The developers dropped their plans on the day the group was scheduled to pay $1 million to the state for the project, according to local newspapers.

N.J. state Sen. Jim Whelan, D-Atlantic, told the Press of Atlantic City that this was no surprise given the market conditions in the area and the national economy.

Rodio said that Hard Rock’s decision did not affect the future of Atlantic City.

“I think that we have enough gaming capacity, so the addition of a thirteenth casino in some respects probably would not be a good thing,” Rodio said.

Atlantic City’s 12th casino, Revel, was supposed to help revive the gambling market and create more than 5,000 jobs. The $2.4 billion casino and resort opened in April.

“It has (worked) in the past. A new attraction has helped to boost the local economy,” said David Schwartz, director of the Center for Gaming Research. He cited the Borgata Casino’s success when it opened in 2003 to explain the benefits of opening new casinos.

The state had a vested interest in Revel’s success. Revel’s construction stalled in 2006, after Morgan Stanley walked away from the project. Four years later, New Jersey agreed to reimburse Revel about $261 million in taxes over the next 20 years. The state would receive 20 percent of the profits the casino’s owners would receive.

But, so far, Revel has fallen short of the initial expectations with losses of $37 million between June and August. Meanwhile, all the other 11 casinos had a combined profit of $186 million, according to New Jersey’s Division of Gaming Enforcement.

While Schwartz said that it is too soon to predict the future of Revel, he said that Atlantic City needs to set itself apart from casinos in neighboring states.

“If they do become a destination resort, that would attract people who would not normally stay,” Schwartz said.

The effort to boost the area’s tourist appeal is underway. In 2011, Gov. Christie restructured the gaming regulatory system and created a “Tourism District” to try to slow the city’s decline.

“We are building on opportunities to attract more groups and corporate meeting business; we are continuing to add new brands like Bass Pro and Margaritaville, and developing other tourism drivers” said Kim Butler, a spokesperson for the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority.

“As we change the perception of Atlantic City from gaming-centric to a full-service getaway destination and diversify our offerings, more people will visit and everyone benefits,” she added.

But in the meantime, News Jersey is looking into expanding other gambling options, including Internet gambling and sports betting, the Associate Press reported.

Back in 2011, Christie said he would not consider expanding on-site gambling beyond Atlantic City until seeing the results of the five-year revitalization plan.

Casino operating profits--excluding Revel--were up 2 percent for the third quarter of this year, according to the Division of Gaming Enforcement.

Rodio said this might indicate that emphasizing Atlantic City’s new identity as a tourist destination could work. He said that the existing casinos need to reinvent themselves.

“We cannot be all about gaming revenues,” Rodio said. “We have to be more about all the other amenities and non-gaming revenues that we can get.”

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http://www.afro.com/sections/news/national/story.htm?storyid=77033

Massachusetts: It's been done before

Massachusetts lawmakers pretend 'We can do it right!' and pretend a Predatory Industry that brings with it community destruction will bestow blessings it hasn't delibered elsewhere.

Atlantic City is teetering on bankruptcy because of bailouts, infrastructure upgrades, juggling to address rampant CRIME and their addiction to low wage jobs and Casinos that don't want to pay property taxes.

The Gambling Industry, widely known for being Anti-Union is revealing its goals.


Each and every one of the Casino Cheerleaders will be out of office when the truth of their Folly becomes evident.


[Below are a number of articles illustrating the issue.]

July 3, 2012

AC rejects union vote bid on Revel job limits

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Atlantic City rejected a bid by its main casino workers union to force a public vote this fall on one casino's policy limiting many customer service jobs to between four and six years.

In a June 28 letter received by the union on Monday, City Clerk Rhonda Williams rejected petitions from Local 54 of the Unite-HERE union, saying they improperly tied the hands of the City Council and did not have enough signatures.

The union says it has more than enough signatures and will go to court to force the referendum in November.

The $2.4 billion Revel casino, which opened in April, is the only one of Atlantic City's 12 casinos to impose term limits on employees. Revel CEO Kevin DeSanctis says the business needs to ensure that customer service employees don't become indifferent to the needs of guests.

But Williams wrote: "I have concluded that the initiatives are invalid because they attempt to permanently tie the hands of the governing body into the future."

She also said the petitions had to be rejected because they did not equal at least 15 percent of Atlantic City's registered voters.

But the union says it is only required under state law to collect signatures equal to 15 percent of the number of Atlantic City voters who cast ballots in the last ballots for the state Assembly — a much lower threshold that the union says it easily surpassed.

A union spokesman said Local 54 plans to challenge the rejections in court soon.

"As expected, rather than let the citizens of Atlantic City vote on ordinances that would make life better for workers in AC, the City of Atlantic City chose to reject our initiative petitions with fallacious readings of the law," union president Bob McDevitt said. "With Atlantic City teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, why the leadership of this city will again waste taxpayer money to defend a suit we will bring and expect to win is beyond my understanding."

Revel declined to comment.

Before Revel opened, applicants were told they will have jobs for as little as four years at a time, after which they will have to re-apply. That means competing with younger, fresher faces — a requirement that has never been made before in the 34-year history of casino gambling in Atlantic City.

Jobs that are subject to term limits of up to six years include dealers, valets, cocktail servers, bartenders and front desk clerks.

The casino says it will recruit for supervisory positions from among those workers and will encourage advancement through the ranks. At the end of the job term, any employee who has not been promoted will have to re-apply for the same job and compete with all other comers.

McDevitt says that will have the effect of purging the workforce of all but the youngest, most attractive faces.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505245_162-57465830/ac-rejects-union-vote-bid-on-revel-job-limits/


Caesars casinos skips out on local property tax burden in Missouri

Atlantic City casinos win tax appeals

Driving the tax increase is the loss of $1.4 billion in ratables, 7 percent of the city’s ratable base, down to $18.1 billion. The drop came mainly because of tax appeal settlements, including those that reduced property values for Caesars Entertainment Corp.’s four local properties.

Caution: 'Sluggish' U.S. gaming worries Moody's

Atlantic City: Putting Lipstick on a Pig

The Christie administration has a particular interest in Revel's success. Last year, New Jersey contributed $261 million in tax credits to aid in the casino's completion.

Casinos aren’t the future

Developer: Pols can't keep approving new casinos

"Here in Atlantic City, we have assets for sale that literally nobody wants to buy," said Gary Loveman, president of Caesars Entertainment, which counts four Atlantic City gambling halls among its 56 casinos. "There is simply too much supply in Atlantic City. The supply doesn't go away. That's a very bad thing. The problem here? Nobody ever closes." [Caesars is + $20 BILLION in debt - not million, but BILLION.]


Taxpayer subsidized Revel, now anti-union

"It is appalling that Revel has taken hundreds of millions of dollars in state assistance, and then it turns around and institutes anti-worker policies," ....

"Revel's policies of term-limiting service employees and huge use of part-time workers are a direct attack on the labor movement," ....

Caesars, Atlantic City settle tax appeal

The future of Suffolk Downs?

The $42 million South Inlet Transportation Improvement Project, when finished in April,....


The undertaking is the largest in the city since the $330 million Atlantic City Expressway Connector opened in 2001. That project made it easier to get to the Marina District and led to the development of the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa two years later.

Revel: OSHA for Death of Worker


Casino capitalism
In states that legalize gambling, casinos no doubt create jobs but they don’t necessarily stimulate the larger economy. A 1999 report by the National Gambling Impact Study Commission found that “few businesses can be found more than a few blocks from the Atlantic City boardwalk. Many of the ‘local’ businesses remaining are pawnshops, cash-for-gold stores and discount outlets. One witness noted that, ‘in 1978 [the year the first casino opened], there were 311 taverns and restaurants in Atlantic City. Nineteen years later, only 66 remained, despite the promise that gaming would be good for the city’s own.’”
Casino jobs are comparable to those created throughout the American service economy: They are no replacement for vanished manufacturing employment, and wages can be quite low if unions don’t fight their way into the picture. In Las Vegas, Culinary Workers Local 226 (part of UNITE HERE) has organized 60,000 casino and hospitality workers, boosting wages and benefits far above those that prevail in non-union Reno. But Atlantic City’s downward spiral shows the fragility of labor success in the service economy. Most of the 5,500 permanent employees at the Revel will, in a first for the heavily unionized boardwalk, have to reapply for their jobs every four to six years.
Likewise, the prospect of casinos driving net job growth nationwide seems unlikely. While commercial casino revenues nationwide have increased by 73 percent since 1998, employment grew by just 5 percent, or 15,132 jobs, to 340,564. In New England, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine and Rhode Island are rushing to expand casino gambling and outcompete their neighbors.
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Union sues to stop bailout of Revel

Revel hits the jackpot at taxpayer expense

New Jersey Desperation: Tax Breaks for Revel

Casino Capitalism by Morgan Stanley

Atlantic City: Union Files Suit Against Bailout

NJ: The Morgan Stanley Casino Bailout

Poverty in Atlantic City

Miccosukee Tribe: No Sovereign Immunity

Judge Orders Morgan Stanley, Citibank, Wachovia and American Express to Turn Over Miccosukee Tribe's Massive Financial Records

Sovereign Immunity Not a Defense in Financial Probe, Morgan Stanley denies having accounts, but Judge disagrees, says Miami-Dade Lawyer Ramon M. Rodriguez

Miami, FL (PRWEB) August 03, 2011

U.S. District Judge Alan S. Gold ordered Morgan Stanley, Citibank, Wachovia and American Express to turn over the Miccosukee tribe's massive financial records to the Internal Revenue Service, a ruling that will shine a light on the tribe's once secretive finances and profits from billion dollar casino revenues. UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT, SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA, CASE NO. 10-23507-CV-GOLD [LEAD CASE]

“The financial consequences could prove to be enormous and the legal precedence ground breaking,” said Miami-Dade lawyer Ramon M. Rodriguez. Rodriguez and his clients have a special interest in the IRS's case.

“The IRS is able to get financial records that my clients have been waiting for,” Rodriguez said. “The tribe owes a great deal of money and they've been using Wall Street firms to hide their wealth. It's been a financial hide and seek that would make Swiss banks proud.”

On July 21, 2011, Miami- Dade County Judge Michael A. Genden ordered sanctions against Miccosukee Tribe members Tammy Gwen Billie, her father, Jimmie Bert, and their Miami lawyer Michael R. Tein and the Coconut Grove, Fla. law firm Lewis Tein, for their abuse of the discovery process during the post-judgment stage of a wrongful death case.

Rodriguez has been trying to collect a $3.177 million judgment against these two Miccosukee tribal members since obtaining a verdict in July of 2009. In the Circuit Court of the 11th Judicial Circuit in and for Miami-Dade County, Florida, General Jurisdiction Division, Case No. 00-25711 CA 20.

The judgment stems from a horrible 1998 head-on collision automobile accident that occurred on Tamiami Trail near the Miccosukee reservation in Miami, Fla. Miccosukee tribal member, Tammy Gwen Billie, crossed the centerline and struck the Bermudez vehicle head-on. Billie was driving a vehicle owned by her father, Jimmie Bert, who is also a Miccosukee tribal member.

The collision killed Gloria Liliana Bermudez and injured her husband, Carlos Bermudez, and their infant son Matthew. According to court documents, Ms. Billie was intoxicated when she drove her father's vehicle and subsequently pled guilty to vehicular homicide, resulting in probation.

In July 2009, a jury awarded the Bermudez family $3,177,000 in damages for the fatal accident in which a husband watched his wife die on the side of a road. The defendants have failed to satisfy the judgment and close to ½ million dollars in interest has accrued.

“The defendants claim to be uncollectible, but Bert and Billie are members of the Miccosukee Tribe which engages in Class II gaming. Court records reflect distributions in excess of $160,000 a year to another Miccosukee tribal member. In addition, private attorneys from day one of the case, which has lasted more than a decade, have defended Bert and Billie. Their lead attorney charges $550 per hour and Tein doesn't work for free.”

In a hodge-podge of secret record keeping involving Morgan Stanley, Citibank, Wachovia and American Express, the tribe puts money in banks but manages to hide what money goes to whom, says Rodriguez. To date the Miccosukees have been able to hide their gambling revenues and how they distribute profits to tribal members. Court records show they've even failed to file a distribution plan with the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

During the tribe's litigation with the IRS, an agent said the IRS learned of “allegations that the tribe regularly hired armored cars to carry cash, somewhere between $6 and $10 million per quarter, from its gambling operation for direct distribution to tribal members without reporting these distributions to the IRS.”

Judge Gold halted the Miccosukee's' numerous attempts to block the IRS from digging into financial records relating to the tribes 600 members. Judge Gold said the IRS's right to financial records supersedes the tribe's sovereign nation status. The ruling covers all internal financial operations of the Miccosukee and their payments of gambling profits from the tribe's casino to members. The documents are held by Morgan Stanley, Citibank, Wachovia and American Express and cover the years 2006-09.

Rodriguez and his clients are relieved that the profits the tribe receives from its slots and other gambling revenues will finally be made public.

“The Bermudez family was robbed of a mother and a wife in a horrific accident,” Rodriguez said

Casino Capitalism by Morgan Stanley

More information about Morgan Stanley bailout here: LINK

Atlantic City casino project raises cash

Two weeks after NJ Gov. Chris Christie leaned on Morgan Stanley brass to try again to raise the cash needed to complete its half-built Revel casino in Atlantic City, the money appears to be in hand and workers could be back on the job as soon as next week.

The $1.15 billion financing effort by JPMorgan Chase is expected to be finalized by Feb. 1, sources tell The Post. At that time, Revel Entertainment Chief Executive Kevin DeSanctis hopes to be able to write a $30 million check to Revel owner Morgan Stanley in exchange for the keys to the beachfront casino.


The financing has not closed, however, and sources cautioned that it could still fall apart.

The latest news comes after Christie personally reached out to officials at Morgan Stanley, as first reported by The Post.

Christie threw his considerable heft behind the project with a personal plea to Morgan Stanley brass because he believes it's critical to help Atlantic City, which has been hit hard by the recession.

Indeed, re-igniting the construction of the project -- which Morgan Stanley now values at $28 million -- could result in as many as 6,000 jobs, according to one person familiar with the project.

The new financing package comes a month after JPMorgan failed to attract investors. This time around the bankers sold the toughest part of the loan package -- the mezzanine chunk, which represents the equity stake -- first.

Construction kicked off in 2007 just before the markets plunged and funding dried up, forcing Morgan Stanley to plow some $1.2 billion into Revel.

Spokesmen for DeSanctis, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley declined comment.

NJ: Casino Logic Defies, Morgan Stanley Bailout

Gambling Investors salivating to exploit Massachusetts residents, often point to the wondrous success of casinos in New Jersey, failing to mention 17% unemployment, even with the multitudes of low wage jobs they offer. Or even the Mob ties.

Legislators, in love with casinos and campaign contributions, removed local control from voters with more sense who oppose a Morgan Stanley bailout.

Aaahhh, yes! Notice the carrot - 'we'll finish blah, blah, if only you'll just bail us out.'

Revel intends to reapply for $300M in sales tax breaks for Atlantic City casino after replacing chief investor


ATLANTIC CITY — Revel Entertainment Group intends to reapply for $300 million in sales tax breaks after it replaces its chief investor for its stalled Atlantic City casino project.

Morgan Stanley recently announced it was better to take a $932 million loss on the casino-hotel than to spend money to finish it.

Revel CEO Kevin DeSanctis told The Press of Atlantic City the gaming company intends to commit to using the sales tax breaks for redeveloping the South Inlet, the long-neglected area around Revel.

Opponents of the proposed tax break have enough valid signatures to force a referendum on it this fall.

But a bill awaiting action by Gov. Chris Christie would strip municipalities of the right to hold referendums on projects funded by state stimulus money.

NJ: The Morgan Stanley Casino Bailout

Should taxpayers pay $300M for casino in Atlantic City?
Firm took a $10B government bailout, gave $14B in salary, bonuses to employees

Fresh from using $10 billion in federal bailout money to save itself, Morgan Stanley is now gambling that its investment in a 1,900-room casino-hotel on Atlantic City's boardwalk will hit another type of jackpot.

Morgan Stanley has provided most of the financing for the $2 billion casino project being built by Revel Entertainment Group in Atlantic City's South Inlet section. Work has continued on the exterior of the structure, but construction of the casino's interior was halted in January 2009 to await additional financing.

New Jersey's TIF law was revised last year as part of the Economic Stimulus Act of 2009. Before the revision, nine taxes, including one state-level tax, could be included in a TIF grant. Now 11 state taxes and 11 local taxes can be diverted to developers for up to 20 years.


"I watched from a distance and was aghast," LeRoy said of the revisions to the TIF law. "It's highly unusual to allow that much of a diversion." [Greg LeRoy, executive director of Good Jobs First, a Washington, D.C.-based organization that studies economic development.]

LOCAL CONTROL REMOVED. This is a consistent pattern around the country, much as Lincoln, RI residents overwhelmingly opposed 24/7 gambling at Twin Rivers --

State Sen. Raymond Lesniak, D-Union, sponsored the Economic Stimulus Act and also co-sponsored S-920, a bill that would ban referendums on local redevelopment ordinances. The latter bill, which was approved by the full Senate Feb. 22, was in response to Unite Here members' attempts to have a city ordinance authorizing the tax incentive plan revoked through a public referendum.

"Revel is not just another casino," Lesniak said at a Senate Economic Development Committee hearing on S-920 held Feb. 1. "It is a $2 billion investment in making Atlantic City a tourist destination, something that must happen for it to compete with new gambling operations in neighboring states."

Tourist Destination? Where have we heard that before?


Revel has also sought a $56 million municipal bond to help with road improvements around the project, and has applied for a five-year property tax abatement from Atlantic City that would save the company $50 million in local property taxes.


There's more information available: No Morgan Stanley Bailout







Recent Study Examines Poverty in Atlantic City



.

A high proportion of casino jobs are open to low-skill workers, and on any given day, many go unfilled. Yet in 1999 the city’s poverty rate was 23.6 percent, while the national rate was 11.3 percent; unemployment stood at 12.9 percent in 2000, compared to 5.8 percent in the nation.3 The city’s poverty rate is actually a bit higher than before the beginning of legalized gambling in 1978, when the city was in sharp economic decline,....



...the low-skill service jobs available in casinos or other industries may not provide enough income to escape poverty. Residents often noted that they or someone they knew held two or three casino jobs in order to make ends meet.



Maybe Beacon Hill can pretend gambling is something it isn't, but the stark facts are available for all to see.