It appears that the casino workers will have to suffer a little longer
because the greedy owners won't do the right thing...but it's inevitable.

A.C. council tables resolution to ban smoking in casinos

By ELAINE ROSE Staff Writer, (609) 272-7215
(Published: August 10, 2006)
ATLANTIC CITY â?" Nearly a dozen anti-smoking activists came to Wednesday's
City Council meeting to urge the members to support a ban on smoking in the
resort's casinos.

But the effort was to no avail, as a resolution sponsored by Councilman
Eugene Robinson was tabled.

The state's indoor smoking ban went into effect April 15, but gaming areas
of the casinos are exempt. Assemblyman Jim Whelan, D-Atlantic, has
introduced a measure to make the gaming halls smoke-free.

Buoyed by a June report from the U.S. surgeon general that there is no safe
level of exposure to secondhand smoke, casino workers said they want the
same protections as other New Jersey employees.

Robinson introduced a resolution for City Council to support Whelan's bill,
and it was on Wednesday's agenda. The vote was postponed because the council
was discussing tax abatements for purchasers of new residential units, and
the meeting was already quite long, he said.

Whelan was among those present in the standing-room-only City Council
chambers Wednesday afternoon. Several advocates wore orange T-shirts
reading, â?oNobody wants to work in an ashtray.â?�

A resolution from City Council would help his legislation, but is not
necessary for passage, Whelan said. He said he will push the measure when
the Legislature reconvenes next month.

â?oUltimately, I'm confident the ban will go into effect and the casino
workers will get the relief (from secondhand smoke) they deserve,â?� Whelan
said.

The smoking ban will eventually reach the casino floor, Councilman John
Schultz said before the meeting.

â?oIt's a reality,â?� Schultz said. â?oWe should do it the day after Las
Vegas does it, because it's a competitive industryâ?� and Atlantic City's
gaming halls shouldn't be at a disadvantage to their counterparts in Nevada.

But Robinson disagreed, saying now is the time to act.

â?oMy people were slaves for 200 years because of profitâ?� motives, and
workers should no longer have to risk their health to bolster the casinos'
bottom line.

Doofus, have you spoken with any of the casino workers to get a feel of
how much they are all suffering? You must have some specific
information beyond your self-serving gross generalization. Perhaps you
have just one piece of feed-back from just *one* casino worker.

Greedy owners?? They don't make any promises, nor do they force anyone
to gamble. Do you know of *any* casino gambler who doesn't realize that
the House is stacked against him?? Do you think those elaborate casinos
were built by "winners"? I do believe . among other things, you need
some lessons on the machinations of casino towns and cities.

Nice try, Carrie Nation, now you are the savior within the gambling
meccas, eh?
Greedy owners?? Man, you are stupid!(and a bit angry, I might add)

I can empathize with the casino workers knowing for how many years us non
smokers had to suffer with the stench & pollutants in my workspace. There's
is far worse than I had to put up with & it's evident that the greed of the
business's will require another non smoking law to force the issue. They'll
never do it on their own for fear of driving business to Vegas. In the mean
time, enjoy smokin em while you can because you'll soon be out side behind
the dumpster for your fix.

No suffering necessary. They are free to find another job.

Unless you owned the company, it isn't *YOUR* workspace.

Can you name me one place where the smokers have to smoke behind the
dumpsters?

Me thinks they are making that shit up.

That's you. Don't impose your anal retentive values on others.

You're losing it, Boris. Don't take all this stuff so personally.
Lighten up ya' pitiful screwball. Do you really think some
grand-a-night hooker in Vegas would give two-cents for your silly concerns?


Yeah okay, whatever you say, silly guy.

Thank you for confirming it's not "about the smoke", as others say, it's about humiliating
smokers by making them stand outside behind the dumpster.

Perhaps you could make them wear a big scarlet letter "S" to leave no doubt about their
shame.

Atlantic City is delusional if it thinks its competition is Vegas. Atlantic City attracts
day-tripping bus loads of pensioners from NYC and Philadelphia, who piss away their Social
Security, then go home. Nobody stays there overnight. Urban decay is but a block away from
the strip, but that doesn't matter to customers. They're not turned on by crack. Since
they grew up in the '50s and '60s, they don't care much about smoke either.

I thought gambling was supposed to make Atlantic City into a desirable place to work and
live. Whatever happened to that idea? Do you think banning smoking will bring the idea to
fruition?

Oh, it is the smoke that's the problem for me & not a matter of humiliating
smokers. I thought years ago that AC would develop into something more
desirable that what it has become but I agree with you about that point. If
the greedy casino owners really wanted to improve the area they would have
done so years ago as they promised. Banning smoking will do nothing for
their income but it would make the casino's more desirable to gamble at &
improve the conditions the workers have to work in.

Vegas casinos have tried smoke-free gambling many times, because they were told that
nonsmokers were hungry for a 'clean' casino. Each of those experiments shut down due to
disappointing volume. When it comes to broken promises, antismokers are as bad as owners
and politicians.

Governments make a big show over controlling casinos to keep those bad bad mobsters out.
It turns out the biggest crooks are politicians.

Hammer poised to fall in probe of graft in A.C.
Arrests are called imminent in expanding investigation
Monday, August 07, 2006
BY JOHN P. MARTIN
Star-Ledger Staff

Federal prosecutors are preparing criminal charges in a secret but long-running FBI
investigation into public corruption in and around Atlantic City, according to two sources
with knowledge of the probe.

The investigation has focused on at least six subjects but could ultimately snare twice as
many, according to a defense attorney and a law enforcement source who have been
independently briefed on the case.
....
The case is expected to mirror other FBI corruption probes of the past three years, which
have produced dozens of convictions of municipal officials from Hudson to Mercer to
Monmouth counties.
....
The opening of the chic Borgata casino, planned expansions by its rival casinos and
projects like the Pier at Caesars, an upscale shopping plaza, have brought the city new
jobs, new taxes -- and new opportunities for corruption.

[Former mayor Michael] Matthews came to power at a similarly robust time, winning election
in 1982, four years after Atlantic City approved casino gambling. He was accused of
conspiring to take hundreds of thousands of dollars from mobsters seeking influence over
contracts, and later pleaded guilty to accepting a $10,000 bribe from an undercover agent.
Matthews was sentenced to 15 years in prison and paroled after serving a third of that
time.

His successor, James Usry, was also accused of influence-peddling during a state
corruption investigation in 1990, but he ultimately was convicted only of a campaign
finance law violation.

In recent years, the city's political image has not improved. One city council member,
Marty Small, was indicted last fall on voter fraud charges for allegedly preventing a
voter from casting a ballot. That case is pending.

Another councilman, president Craig Callaway, has been dogged by unproven allegations of
absentee ballot fraud during past elections. In the past six years, he and his relatives
have emerged as a dominant political force in the region. (Callaway's sister serves on the
school board and a brother is an elected official in Pleasantville.)

Last year, Callaway set his sights on the mayor's seat, and some expected him to topple
incumbent Lorenzo Langford. But two months before the Democratic primary, Callaway
abruptly abandoned the race, citing health concerns.
http://www.nj.com/printer/printer.ss...450.xml&coll=1

Ahh, see? There it is again? I'm sooooo confused.... Does smoking bans
improve business or not?? Where's alllll the non-smokers just chomping at
the bit to be able to go out and enjoy themselves, smoke free?

Yeah, right.

Chip