Thursday, February 04, 2010
Atlantic City: Always Turned On
"Always Turned On" is the current promo phrase.
Atlantic City was a mess when casino money bins were overflowing. Now, the economy & competition have the industry reeling in A.C. with no solutions at hand. Atlantic City cannot draw upon a former tradition of honest city government. There were only decades when City Hall had a few proud, well-funded, & competently managed departments, & had a greater capacity for doing good for residents who understood the rules. One rule I think is important: Place unqualified cronies in jobs with few responsibilities. Give them desks & nothing important to do, & tell them they'll be fired if they're caught doing anything else.
"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." Thomas Jefferson
Atlantic City supervisor charged with selling drugs while working on city propertyYes, innocent until proven guilty. Another story opening the lid on the garbage pail of Atlantic City politics. This one is especially outrageous. The timing of the arrest calls attention to a power struggle between the mayor & police chief. It reveals that a ex-con with alleged gang connections was hired to a supervisory position (he lives out of town & has a city car). It implies "open secret" illegal activity in & around a community center. Urban drug dealing is not invisible to residents.
ATLANTIC CITY — A city supervisor allegedly sold drugs from the All Wars Memorial building while on city time and from his city-issued vehicle, leading to his arrest Wednesday morning.
Akbar Malik Salaam, also known as William McDaniels, is charged with official misconduct and multiple drug offenses...
***Over several months, Salaam received thousands of dollars selling more than a half-ounce of heroin to undercover officers while on his job in the memorial building — which functions as a meeting space and community center — and from his official city vehicle, the prosecutor said. Driving raised another issue, as Salaam’s license is suspended, according to a separate charge against him.
Salaam has been indicted at least eight times, according to court records. But not all of Salaam’s arrests were before his employment with the city.
On Sept. 5, 2003, he and 13 others were arrested in “Operation A.C. Pirates,” targeting the selling of name-brand knock-offs and pirated movies. At the time, Salaam was an assistant to then-Public Works Director Michael Scott. But he was not on duty at the time of the arrest.
***
In September, The Press of Atlantic City revealed that the employees assigned to the All Wars Memorial Building were paid large amounts of overtime in 2009. Salaam, who supervised the group and approved the payments, received $15,532.46 in overtime — nearly half of his $35,211.78 salary from January 2009 to Sept. 14, 2009.
***
Atlantic City was a mess when casino money bins were overflowing. Now, the economy & competition have the industry reeling in A.C. with no solutions at hand. Atlantic City cannot draw upon a former tradition of honest city government. There were only decades when City Hall had a few proud, well-funded, & competently managed departments, & had a greater capacity for doing good for residents who understood the rules. One rule I think is important: Place unqualified cronies in jobs with few responsibilities. Give them desks & nothing important to do, & tell them they'll be fired if they're caught doing anything else.
Labels: Atlantic City, in the news
