Now to Atlantic City announcing a complex plan to save itself from a state takeover. The public hearing inside has just begun. NJTV News Correspondent Michael Hill is there. Michael?
Hill: Mary Alice this was not a very orderly start to this meeting. The big vote coming up is on the five-year plan to make Atlantic City financially stable once again to meet the muster of the state. But it also started off with some council members questioning whether this was a legal meeting, whether it was given proper notice, whether the public received proper notice from the council on Friday to hold this meeting to vote on the plan. Nevertheless we know some parts of this five-year plan. The water authority for $110 million, buying Bader Field, cutbacks and buyouts and things like that. I spoke to Marty Small the council president just a short while ago about the rest of this plan.
Hill: Tell me why you’re confident that this five-year plan will meet the muster of the state?
Small: Well we were tasked with the responsibility. It was a responsibility that we took seriously. We’ve been in this battle with the state of New Jersey since January and the culmination is tonight with the city accepting the plan. I believe our plan checks all the boxes as far as not raising the taxes on the residents, various ways that we dropped the budget, the ways we raised revenue, the way we killed a lot of our legacy debt — a couple of longtime debts that have been hovering over us as a city — will be addressed in the plan. And so it’s fiscal responsibility. It’s a matter that we take seriously. There were a lot of misnomers about Atlantic City and wasteful spending. But listen, I get it. During the campaign things are going to be said when you’re in opposition to someone. But this plan is truly a plan that the state of New Jersey should embrace. In fact, we’re so confident that if even in the situation that they took the city over they could make it work with the plan that we presented.
Hill: You’re that confident?
Small: Absolutely I am.
Hill: If this is not voted on tonight and approved by the city council where does that leave you with the state saying you haven’t done what you’re supposed to do, we’re going to take over?
Small: You’re looking at Chris Christie as the mayor of Atlantic City.
Now Mayor Don Guardian is going to get up here in just a few minutes and almost in an OPRA style he’s going to go around this room and explain what this five-year plan is and then the council members are going to vote on it. As you heard there Small is confident the council members will vote on this plan. Of course we’ll have much more on this plan on NJTV News tomorrow.