A pair of New Jersey lawmakers are hopping mad about the costly, dubiously competent Tropicana Atlantic City trusteeship of Justice Gary Stein. The solons are particularly het up over the way Stein was feathering his own nest.
"It is unacceptable, but not surprising, that this transaction would drag on for almost two years, yielding a cut-rate price for the sale and ballooning legal fees for the law firm of the state-appointed conservator," fumed Assemblyman Vince Polistina (R). He and colleague John Amodeo (R) will seek to impose new ethics rules and fee ceilings on future casino conservators. Good on them.
Divergent responses from within the New Jersey Casino Control Commission make interesting reading. The NJCCC's spokesman circles the wagons around Stein while Chairwoman Linda Kassekert — clearly hip to which way the wind is blowing — lines up with Amodeo and Polistina. She put Stein in the catbird seat but clearly has scant compunction about cutting him loose now that he's a millstone around her neck.
