Rolling the Bones on Name That Party in Atlantic City

A day after the previous mayor of Atlantic City stepped down under a cloud of malfeasance including lying about the extent of his military record, we now know that his successor has his own problems.

The media also has a problem identifying the political affiliation of all those involved.

This scandal-plagued gambling resort has a new mayor, but Robert Levy's successor has his own set of problems.

William "Speedy" Marsh become acting mayor just after Levy resigned Wednesday. The former mayor had slipped out of sight for two weeks before returning to public view just to leave his position, citing ill health and a federal investigation into his Vietnam war record.

Marsh, the City Council president, must repay the city more than $363,000. The money is his portion of a settlement that he and another man received to resolve a lawsuit claiming they were wrongfully fired from their jobs as city workers due to political retaliation.

However, the settlement was approved by the City Council after the other plaintiff, Lorenzo Langford, had become mayor — something the court cited when it determined in May that the deal was "infected by intolerable conflicts of interest." The court ordered the two to repay the money.

Marsh is involved in court proceedings about exactly how the money is to be paid back. His private lawyer, Frederic Bor, did not return a call seeking comment Wednesday evening.

After being sworn in as mayor at City Hall Wednesday, Marsh responded to only one question from a reporter, asking how he would go about restoring public trust in Atlantic City's dysfunctional government.

"Truthful, thoughtful leadership and being amenable to the residents," Marsh said. "Be honest about how we're going to move forward toward making Atlantic City a serious place they want to invest in. I'm going to do that."

Despite his debt to the city, Marsh is looked upon favorably by many residents. This is largely because he staunchly opposed former Council President Craig Callaway, who is serving a 40-month prison term for bribery.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist, or a pit boss to know that all are Democrats. The Record does make note of the political affiliation in the fourth paragraph, which is an improvement.

The Record also has the quote of the day, coming from Levy's attorney:

"We want to emphasize that this federal investigation is not simply another example of an Atlantic City public corruption case," he said. "As far as we know, there is no allegation of public corruption, no allegation that Bob Levy ever engaged in pay-to-play, or had his hand out. There's nothing being alleged about any criminality being involved in the discharge of his functions as mayor, or in the electoral process."

That's right - Levy's attorney claims coming under federal investigation for lying about your military record (which has the effect of defrauding the taxpayer because it means higher payouts for federal pensions) is not nearly as bad as indictments for corruption.

Of course, far too many New Jersey politicians have been indicted, entered plea deals, or are serving time for corruption and graft.