Assembly Deputy Speaker John Wisniewski (D-Middlesex) issued the following statement Thursday regarding Atlantic City:
“After years of focusing on a presidential campaign that ultimately went nowhere, New Jersey’s absentee landlord has come back home to a caved in roof and leaky pipes that are long overdue for repair.
“If over the last five years the Governor had displayed half the leadership Speaker Prieto has in the last few months when it comes to Atlantic City, we wouldn’t be in this situation.
“The Speaker knows that protecting Atlantic City and protecting working people are not mutually exclusive. That his staunch commitment to both goals has been disregarded by a governor who took deliberate action to obstruct a viable solution to this problem is reprehensible.
“A hasty plan to turn over power and assets to people outside of Atlantic City – particularly when the Governor already has full legal authority to prevent a disaster without a takeover – warrants serious questions about the possibility of an underlying motive.
“Sadly, we need look no further than the company the Governor keeps while he’s out of state – unabashedly arrogant company with a history of financial flops in Atlantic City – to validate reservations about his intentions to ‘rescue’ this municipality. His track record inspires little confidence that he would responsibly manage the city’s valuable assets, such as its airport and its water utility, and has led me to conclude that our governor, in holding one of the most powerful offices in the land, holds too much power.
“Let’s be clear – while political expedience may trump justice and fairness for others, Speaker Prieto always stands firmly on his own two feet for what he knows is right, and in that, he will never stand alone.
“I support the Speaker wholeheartedly.”