Christie may be moving too fast

Posted in: Opinion Sports on July 29, 2010 at 1:26 am |

By John Soltes

If the recommendations of Gov. Chris Christie’s advisory commission come to fruition, the IZOD Center may be privatized, the Meadowlands Racetrack may shut down, the state may offer tax exemptions to Xanadu, and Atlantic City may change forever (seemingly this would all happen before breakfast).

On the surface, these “enhancements” appear to be welcome news. The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, which operates the arena and racetrack, cannot sustain its multi-million-dollar debt for too much longer. Something needs to change.

But during a press conference Wednesday, July 21, Christie went too far in demanding that change occur right away. Although just about every party involved would love to move forward with at least some of these recommendations, a pragmatic approach may be more appropriate. These problems took years to fester, and deserve more than a few minutes to solve.

The Leader’s editorial on this topic from a few months ago simply stated: “It’s time to act.” This did not mean overnight.

The governor has proved to be an effective, if somewhat harsh, administer of change. On this issue, pause may be worth consideration.

The commission is demanding a lot, and to expect New Jersey to attain these goals in a short amount of time may set the state up for failure — and the state, especially the Meadowlands, cannot fail again.

Just look at the unbelievably ambitious goals of the recommendations: engender a spirit of cooperation among New Jersey’s major entertainment venues (when private, capitalistic efforts are in place, this will be nearly impossible); make Atlantic City clean and safe by July 1, 2011 (this may be unrealistic); and divest the NJSEA of all responsibilities to venue operations (a worthy proposal, but one that should take time).

The swiftness of the changes are appreciated. We are in financial dire straits, so let’s be “bold,” as the governor contends. But when one makes goals that are almost impossible to achieve, boldness can easily result in misdirected enthusiasm.

No matter what supporters or naysayers might believe, these recommendations are admittedly difficult to grasp and will forever change our state. Make sure they are the right moves before diving into this murky water.

Hypocrisy is a contagion that will kill. Taxpayers deserve more detailed answers of why this commission feels venues like the Meadowlands Racetrack and Xanadu should be privatized (with gaming not a possibility), yet at the same time the state should enter into public-private partnerships in Atlantic City and with Xanadu.

On the IZOD Center and the racetrack: if public interests could not sustain the venues, how will private ones do any better? Now reverse the public and private in that clause and add in Xanadu and Atlantic City.

The sports complex is complex. Treat it that way.

Tags: Chris Christie Meadowlands Soltes Xanadu