Crucial summit: Where does A.C. go from here?

ATLANTIC CITY - With Trump Taj Mahal now reportedly on the ropes after the closing of two major gambling halls last week, Gov. Christie will hold his much-anticipated summit here Monday.

As the battered resort's future hangs in the balance and faces massive unemployment from four casino closures this year - and what will soon be four dark buildings along the Boardwalk - the summit seeks to address this critical question:

Where does Atlantic City go from here?

"There's no doubt things are tough," Atlantic City Mayor Don Guardian said late last week, "but I believe the decisions we are making today and will be making over the next few years will yield positive results in Atlantic City for years to come."

Monday's summit will bring together a bipartisan group of about three dozen state and local politicians - including leaders in the state Assembly and Senate - Christie cabinet members, city officials, casino executives, and organized labor. They will gather in a room at the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority building, starting at 2 p.m.

The session, which is closed to the media and expected to go an hour to 90 minutes, will address among other things: whether building casinos in the northern half of the state will hurt or benefit Atlantic City; retraining thousands of displaced casino workers for new jobs; and diversifying the city's decimated economy that up to now had been wholly dependent on gambling.

The meeting comes on the heels of last weekend's high-profile closings of Showboat and Revel, and just before Trump Plaza shutters Sept. 16. And now Trump Taj Mahal, which employs about 2,700 workers, is contemplating a bankruptcy filing.

On Friday, Christie spokesman Kevin Roberts said the summit was to assess "where we are in the five-year plan, what adjustments might be needed, and what bolder changes need to be instituted to strengthen the path Atlantic City is on."

It was a sweltering afternoon in July 2010 when Christie appeared on the Boardwalk and announced a state takeover of the city's tourism district and a five-year overhaul plan. The plan, he said, was to revitalize the city's tourism and convention industries and to inject major dollars - $30 million a year for the next five years - to promote it.

Fast-forward four years, and the city has hemorrhaged gaming revenue, jobs, and casinos. It will have eight operating sites after Trump Plaza closes, and that number may go down further, say some gaming analysts.

"We see declining revenues, fewer hotels and slot machines, and most likely, even fewer saltwater taffy sales," Andrew Zarnett of Deutsche Bank AG wrote last month. "The current wave of new development in Philadelphia, Baltimore, Prince George's County, and New York state will continue to take its toll on A.C. gaming ... and lead to even more [casino] closings."

Guardian and other Atlantic City supporters have said in defense of the closings that the city was transitioning from a purely gaming mecca to a nongambling destination with year-round entertainment, new shopping, and restaurants.

The mayor said 10 big-name acts at Boardwalk Hall this winter and the heavily attended Blake Shelton beach concert July 31 were the types of activities the resort was now pushing. Guardian is hoping to hear ideas from others at the summit on turning his city around.

But time may be Atlantic City's biggest enemy as North Jersey lawmakers have ramped up the noise and pressure for casinos in their end of the state.

Christie and Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D., Gloucester) softened their position earlier this summer on breaking up Atlantic City's 36-year monopoly on in-state gambling. Both went from a steadfast "no" to being "open to discussing" casinos in North Jersey - to the dismay of most Atlantic County officials.

Voters would need to approve the expansion of gaming with a constitutional amendment, which supporters say they want on the November 2015 ballot.

"This is the start of an honest discussion on how we fix Atlantic City," said Sweeney, who will use the summit to pitch his plan to transform Atlantic City into a resort town.

Sweeney has proposed expanding gaming to North Jersey and taxing gross revenue at those casinos at a rate of 50 percent. Half the revenue would be dedicated to Atlantic City "in perpetuity," he wrote in a July 25 op-ed in the Bergen Record. He told The Inquirer's editorial board that the revenue would be invested by a nonprofit board composed of top business executives.

Sweeney last week described any casinos in North Jersey as "convenience-gaming" establishments to protect Atlantic City as "the premier gaming destination." He said laid-off Atlantic City casino employees should be first in line for these jobs.

But such talk has only galvanized Atlantic County lawmakers and restoked a years-long North-South battle.

"I am hopeful the summit puts an end to the discussion of building a North Jersey casino," said Assemblyman Chris A. Brown (R., Atlantic), who sits on the Assembly Gaming and Tourism Committee. "Experts have already researched and concluded building a casino in North Jersey in an oversaturated market will result in many more jobs being lost and less funding for senior citizen and disabled programs. Simply discussing this idea scares away private investment."

Atlantic County Executive Dennis Levinson echoed the same sentiments. "It's not a sure thing," he said of what a North Jersey casino could generate in revenue, given the regional competition. "These people claiming a North Jersey casino will be the panacea for New Jersey are the same ones who said Revel would revitalize Atlantic City."

Last week, about 35 employees from the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development were deployed to the Atlantic City Convention Center to help jobless casino workers.

"It's very unfortunate it came down to this," Ruth Ann Joyce, 58, of Sewell, said during her final shift at Showboat last weekend. She and husband Michael, 53, lost their bartending jobs at Showboat, where they'd worked since it opened in 1987. "Gov. Christie made a promise to keep A.C. going for the next five years - which is 2016, not 2014. ... We don't need a summit. We need our paychecks."

Atlantic Club, Showboat, Revel, and Trump Plaza owed the city and county $71.5 million in property taxes this year. About 8,000 jobs, or a fourth of Atlantic City's casino workforce at the start of 2014, will be pared.

"It's too bad what's happening in Atlantic City," said Donald Trump, who last month sued to have his name removed from the two Atlantic City casinos. "It's a different place. About 80 percent of the casinos there have filed or will file for bankruptcy. The whole casino industry is in dishevel. It's really in trouble now. I got out seven years ago. My timing was impeccable."

Assemblyman Vince Mazzeo (D., Atlantic) said, "We have to get everyone on the same page, as far as what to expect going forward. First and foremost, we have to help these unemployed casino workers."

Michael Paladino, a gaming analyst at New York-based Fitch Ratings, said, "If legislators can come together and figure out a way to funnel private, nongaming investment into Atlantic City, that would be a good thing for the market, even if it meant losing the state monopoly on gaming."

State Sen. Jim Whelan (D., Atlantic) hopes the shuttered casinos won't stay vacant for long. Buyers are still being sought.

"I think the closures, unfortunately, are the result of the proliferation of gaming up and down the East Coast," Whelan said late last week. "If we had this summit two months ago, I don't think it would have changed the outcome."