Kevyn and Kevin have one mission: Save A.C.

ATLANTIC CITY - Mayor Don Guardian joked last week that despite the calamitous year his city had just experienced, "at least we're not Detroit."

On Thursday, Gov. Christie hired the man who steered the Motor City out of bankruptcy, Kevyn Orr, to help straighten out Atlantic City.

It was a scenario that Guardian had strenuously resisted for his casino town and one that caught the one-year-old administration by surprise. The mayor met his two new high-powered overseers - one a bankruptcy lawyer, the other an accountant turned corporate restructuring specialist - for the first time Thursday.

Standing against a side wall of the lobby of the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority following Christie's third summit, Guardian was all but ignored as Orr and Kevin Lavin held a brief and slightly awkward news conference in which Orr carefully avoided using the word Detroit.

But Guardian, the personable Republican who unexpectedly took control of the city from entrenched Democrats, is nothing if not nimble in the raucous political sphere of Atlantic City. And he is nothing if not a gracious host.

By day's end, he had invited new emergency manager Lavin and consultant Orr - already known as "the two Kevins" - to City Hall and vowed to work with them.

"Both of the gentlemen were very professional," chief of staff Chris Filiciello said after the meeting. He laughed off the question of whether the mayor regretted invoking Detroit in his "State of the City" address.

"They commented they want to get in, do the job, and get out as soon as possible," Filiciello said. "We're all headed in the same direction."

The mayor offered "office space, computers, cellphones, and business cards." In return, the mayor received "a deferential spirit . . . in no way, shape, or form adversarial."

In Detroit, where Orr just completed a 21-month tenure in which he was widely credited with deftly steering the city through bankruptcy, he was a complex presence.

"The politicians are happy to have their city back, and so are the people," said John Philo, an attorney with the Sugar Law Center, which challenged Michigan's emergency manager law. Philo laughed when informed that Atlantic City was to be Orr's next case.

He said Orr, who received total compensation of $504,000 during his tenure, expensed a $4,000-a-month apartment and was assigned a bodyguard and driver, and was an elusive presence in Detroit despite reaping national publicity.

"The city workers that we know rarely saw him," Philo said. "He certainly was not an antagonizer or as confrontational with elected officials as other emergency managers in Michigan. He seemed focused on financial issues and less involved with other aspects of the city."

Compensation for Orr and Lavin in Atlantic City was not announced Thursday.

Orr, 56, is married to Donna Neale, a surgeon, and lives in Maryland. A bankruptcy attorney, he spent a decade in government corporations such as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and with the U.S. Department of Justice.

In 2001, he joined the law firm Jones Day, where he represented Chrysler Corp. during its 2009 bankruptcy. He attended the University of Michigan with Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, who appointed him in 2013.

Philo said Orr cut services, payrolls, and pension payments to balance the books.

"It's a traditional neoconservative approach," he said. "It's difficult to see how it creates a sustainable future."

Lavin, a softer-spoken, less-well-known figure, has spent his career advising corporations in the midst of restructuring. Lavin will be day-to-day manager, Orr the adviser.

Orr said he did not resort to huge slashing and sidelining of elected officials while serving in "that area of Michigan that you reference where I have had some experience recently" - i.e., Detroit.

Christie's executive order gives Lavin and Orr power to "analyze," "assess," "recommend," and "consult." It leaves resulting actions to Christie, who can invoke "emergency powers." The order does not rule out bankruptcy, allowing for "the restructuring of municipal operations and the adjustment of debts."

Lavin said the style of people who do his kind of work "is not that they take over a situation."

"It's to be alongside of them," he said. "People in our business are not power-hungry."

Lavin's consulting has spanned companies from Global Crossing, a $3 billion international telecommunications company, to Levitz Furniture and UPC Polska, the largest cable operator in Poland. His most recent position was the head of the global restructuring division with FTI Consulting.

In City Hall, meanwhile, the man with the most stressful job of all, Revenue Director Michael Stinson, struck a hopeful tone. Christie's order itself notes the city "is in imminent danger of running out of cash." Stinson has a $12 million bond payment due next week, and is still hoping to raise $140 million in bonds to pay off casino tax appeals. The state's $40 million bridge loan comes due March 31.

Stinson said the two men with Wall Street reputations are a helpful development in the quest to sell their bonds.

"Any help from the state is positive for the city," he said.