Atlantic City mayor on Gov. Christie's rebuke: 'Misinformed and ill-advised'

[fleur-de-lisa]

By Eun Kyung Kim, TODAY contributor, posted on NBCnews.com



Atlantic City mayor Lorenzo Langford escalated tensions with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie after the mayor said Tuesday he would welcome the chance “to confront the governor mano y mano” over how he handled the city’s evacuation during Hurricane Sandy.

A day earlier, Christie had criticized Langford as a “rogue mayor” for supposedly encouraging residents to ride out the storm in designated shelters rather than leave the area entirely.

He told TODAY’s Matt Lauer on Tuesday that Atlantic City residents received mixed messages from his executive order requiring everyone to evacuate and Langford’s encouragement to take cover instead.

“I feel badly for the folks in Atlantic City who listened to him and sheltered in Atlantic City, and I guess my anger has turned to sympathy for those folks, and we’re in the midst now of trying to go in and save them,” Christie said.

Langford strongly denied the characterization of what happened, saying the governor was “either misinformed and ill-advised, or simply just deciding to prevaricate.”

“I’m telling you that is absolutely false and the governor needs to be challenged,” he said. “Where did he get that information? He is dead wrong.”

New Jersey's Governor Chris Christie talks to TODAY's Matt Lauer about his disappointment with Mayor Lorenzo Langford's "mixed messages," saying "I feel badly for the folks in Atlantic City who listened to him."

Officials estimate that as much as 80 percent of Atlantic City was under water at high tide Monday during the brunt of the storm. Water as much as eight feet deep surged through the streets. Christie said both state and federal search and rescue teams arrived on site early Tuesday morning to help those stranded in their homes or at shelter sites.

Langford accused Christie of turning the situation into a political battle.

“Here we are in throes of a major catastrophe and the governor has chosen a time such as this to play politics. I think it’s reprehensible that he would stoop to the level to try and make a political situation out of something that is so serious as this situation,” he said.

During a news conference Monday, Christie said Langford encouraged residents to take shelter at designated sites because he “didn’t want his people leaving the city.”

“I don’t have a feud with the guy, but I wish he’d do his job," he said at the time. He also tweeted, “I am very disappointed in those who did not listen to my order to evacuate.”

Langford refuted the charge, saying most Atlantic City residents did evacuate, as ordered.

"Unfortunately, there will always be those who did not heed that warning," he said. "We had a plan in place for those few residents who would decide at the last minute that they would not try to heed our warning and vacate the city but would try to hunker down, tough it out, only to find at some other time that they wanted to flee. We had that contingency plan in place."

[tblue37]

1. Is the mayor a Dem? If so, then

I would guess that Christie did deliberately misrepresent what the mayor advised and why.

[Andy823]

2. Yes the mayor is a democrat. nt

[Hugabear]

3. Of course Christie is going to lie, it's part of his 2016 campaign

Christie is all about himself, he doesn't give a shit about anybody.

[justiceischeap]

4. I'm trying to find info on this but apparently there is an ongoing feud

between these two guys. It was mentioned last night on Lawrence O'Donnell.

I'm still searching the Google but only getting articles from 3-4 hours ago.

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/breaking/christie-says-atlantic-city-mayor-lorenzo-langford-should-be-ashamed/article_c1b41dce-2e51-11e0-82c8-001cc4c002e0.html

Christie says Atlantic City Mayor Lorenzo Langford 'should be ashamed of himself' for calling tourism plan an apartheid

Posted: Tuesday, February 1, 2011 7:15 pm | Updated: 9:36 pm, Thu Apr 14, 2011.
By MICHAEL CLARK, Staff Writer

ATLANTIC CITY — A verbal battle between Mayor Lorenzo Langford and state officials escalated Tuesday when Republican Gov. Chris Christie and the state’s top Democrat, Senate President Stephen Sweeney, criticized him for recently likening the Atlantic City Tourism District plan to a “modern-day apartheid.”

“He is playing to the lowest common denominator,” Christie said when a reporter asked about the mayor’s comments, which he made Tuesday and previously to another media organization. “He should be ashamed of himself.”

Langford, who refused to attend the governor’s bill signing Tuesday, said residents have likened the plan to the structure of the South African apartheid, saying that the state is creating geographical boundaries with its new Tourism District, “one for the haves and one for the have-nots.” He then said the apartheid reference “has some validity.”

[Spazito]

7. Here's some more info on the Atlantic City Tourism District Plan and the Mayor...

ATLANTIC CITY - An era of unprecedented state intervention has begun in Atlantic City.
The Casino Reinvestment Development Authority voted Tuesday to establish a jurisdiction zone known as the Tourism District, a vast chunk of the city targeted for rejuvenation under the supervision of the state agency.

snip

The CRDA's vote established the district's boundaries, which have significantly expanded from those in the default map detailed in the state legislation that created the district earlier this year.

Mayor Lorenzo Langford cast the lone vote against creation of the district, continuing to challenge the inclusion of Bader Field, a 142-acre tract owned by the city.

"There is a feeling that part of (the plan) is about seizing control of the assets of Atlantic City," Langford said, adding that he has the support of the city's residents and several community groups.


more

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/press/casinos_tourism/state-defines-boundaries-for-atlantic-city-tourism-district-langford-casts/article_7e9a886e-6a85-11e0-91ae-001cc4c002e0.html

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

5. He's also a black Democrat, so there it is. I appreciate Chris Christie for his leadership but he

needed to wait until all the facts were out.

[Jamastiene]

6. Christie is playing politics, for sure.

If he was so concerned about the people, he wouldn't be on so many talk shows talking crap about the mayor. Instead, he would have voiced his concerns directly to that mayor. What he is doing is going on talk shows and giving interviews and just spending all the time talking crap about the mayor when he could be trying to fucking help people. What an asshole.

[RobertEarl]

9. Yep. Posturing

He could have just kept his mouth shut.

Of course, lets face it. Christie is facing the most awful of circumstances for his state. It is easier for Christie to blow off his mouth than deal with the pain and anguish NJ residents are gonna be living with for a long time.

[spanone]

8. christie only praised Obama because the President made christie look good. period.