ATLANTIC CITY -- New Jersey lawmakers and local officials poured into Atlantic City today for the annual New Jersey League of Municipalities conference – a Garden State tradition that features seminars by day and partying by night.
More than 20,000 elected and government-related officials are expected to attend the four day-confab, highlighted by a joint appearance Thursday by Republican Gov.-elect Chris Christie and lame duck Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine.
AP Photo/Mary GodleskiNew Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine speaks as Herbert Stiles, mayor of Elmer, N.J., and president of the New Jersey League of Municipalities, looks on during the league's annual conference in Atlantic City in this 2006 photo.
More than a dozen parties were scheduled at hotel and casino restaurants and ballrooms, hosted by state lawmakers, local officials and the contractors they do business with.
The event is a one-stop-shop for networking with government officials from mayors to the governor’s administration – and in past years, it’s where elected officials have gotten themselves in trouble.
League Executive Director William Dressel said his job is to put together an educational offering to "provide my elected officials with the tools they need" to run local government.
"I’m only responsible for what happens between 9 o’clock and 5 o’clock," Dressel said. "For every hour in that normal workday, it’s chock full of education workshops, clinics."
In his autobiography, former Gov. James E. McGreevey described the convention as "really just a huge frat party." It was where former Hudson County Executive Robert C. Janiszewski took a $5,000 bribe from an FBI informant, and later turned informant.
He was brought down by the office of then-U.S. Attorney Christie, who later led a league seminar on ethics with Attorney General Anne Milgram and warned local officials against participating in similar acts. He told them if "someone approaches you with an envelope of cash looking for some kind of favor from you" in Atlantic City, "it’s probably us."
Dressel said he expects less partying and antics this year, in part because the dismal economy has cut into hotel bookings.
"Quite frankly, (municipal officials are) looking for a lot of answers and insight on how to govern in these tight economic times," he said.
The seminars are on topics such as the economy, budgets, foreclosures, "going green," and the impact of federal stimulus dollars. "There’s a lot of good info," said Kevin Duffy, mayor of Hardwick Township, Warren County.
Lester Lewis-Powder, a Maplewood committee member, acknowledged some may think the convention is a time for local officials to live it up in Atlantic City on the taxpayers’ dime.
"I paid my entire bill myself to avoid that," he said of his room at the Borgata hotel.
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