(TRENTON) — Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto had the following published recently in The Record of Bergen County:
“The governor needs to do his job. We don’t need an alternative to the unnecessary state takeover of Atlantic City.
“Atlantic City has been under state supervision, pursuant to a 1947 state law, since 2010. This has included an emergency manager appointed by Christie. Also, Atlantic City has been receiving transitional aid subject to a memorandum of understanding between the state and city. This agreement allows the state to compel financial actions by Atlantic City.
“Consider that the state can provide an emergency loan at typically low or zero percent interest. And the Local Finance Board can adopt a plan of liquidation for the city’s debt, require all new collective bargaining agreements be subject to review and approval, authorize the municipality to dismiss unclassified persons in managerial positions and authorize the fixing of hours and terms of employment for all municipal employees and require the city’s financial officer to issue special reports and hold hearings on the financial affairs of the city…”
To read the rest of Speaker Prieto’s op-ed, click here.