Christie taps Emergency Manager for Atlantic City

There are no discussions currently about a bankruptcy filing for Atlantic City, but the official said all options will be considered—including renegotiating labor contracts.

“We aren’t putting any strings attached to their work,” the official said. “Everything is on the table.”

The installation of an emergency manager over the city of 40,000 was a dramatic move by Mr. Christie, a potential 2016 presidential candidate who has pledged to help revive the coastal resort.

A spokesman for Atlantic City Mayor Don Guardian, a Republican, said the mayor would oppose any sort of outside control, including an emergency manager, because he had already cut the city’s budget as well as more than 140 employees, working closely with state officials.

“I don’t think the residents will be very happy,” said Chris Filiciello, the spokesman. “They elected the mayor to represent them. He has been fulfilling his duties to the best of his ability and we’d like to know what an emergency manager would do that the mayor hasn’t done already.”

Neither Mr. Orr nor Mr. Lavin didn’t  respond to requests for comment Wednesday. 

Mr. Christie has said he respects Mr. Guardian and his efforts, but he remained committed to having the state take a leading role. “The fact is we are going to do the things we need to do to try and make sure Atlantic City gets it act together,” Mr. Christie said last week on his monthly radio program.

An emergency manager would likely help Atlantic City make important changes immediately, though it couldn’t make up for the closures in casinos that have driven the city’s difficulties, said Eric Scorsone, an economist at Michigan State University who teaches about distressed cities.

“I do think an emergency manager would be interesting and potentially helpful,” said Mr. Scorsone, who provided advice last year to New Jersey officials about how to handle economically troubled cities. “It might be necessary but I’m not sure if it’s sufficient.”

New Jersey doesn’t have a specific law that allows the state to take over a municipality through an emergency manager. Mr. Christie is expected to make the appointments through local finance laws that allow the state to impose fiscal monitors—as it is doing, in limited fashion, in places such as Newark.

Bill Dressel, director of the New Jersey League of Municipalities, said he was concerned about the state exerting this degree of control over a city, and questioned what laws the administration was using to justify its involvement. “Obviously I’ve got some concerns,” he said.

Atlantic City has seen its fortunes fall in the last several years as casinos in neighboring states have chipped away at its former monopoly on gambling. Four of Atlantic City’s 12 casinos shuttered last year, leading to the loss of about 8,000 jobs.