Atlantic City Politicians As A Criminal Class

The L.A. Times reports on Atlantic City,New Jersey and its' missing Mayor Levy:

For longtime residents of this city of 40,500, Levy's vanishing act hardly rouses more than a chuckle or a head shake. Four of the last eight mayors have been arrested. One-third of last year's nine-member City Council is in prison or under house arrest. Former Council President Craig Callaway is in federal prison for taking bribes in office.

Councilman John J. Schultz is charged with helping frame another councilman, Eugene Robinson, who was allegedly lured to a hotel room and videotaped having sex with a prostitute. Councilman Timothy Mancuso is charged with driving while intoxicated -- behind the wheel of a city car, across the boardwalk and onto the beach in the middle of the night. Schultz, Robinson and Mancuso still serve on the council.

It's not the first time Levy, who took office early last year, has dropped out of the public eye. People here say he has been a mostly invisible leader, taking periodic sick leaves and frequently failing to show up at his office. On Friday, Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine held a news conference asking Atty. Gen. Anne Milgram to look into whether Levy had abandoned his office.

According to the mayor's staff, Levy is in the hospital and his car is parked in the city lot. But a local newspaper reported the car gone last week.

"The mayor did not ride off into the sunset," said spokesman Nicholas J. Morici. "He did not take his car and run off."

He said the mayor did not want to disclose his whereabouts or his illness.

You might say the worst elements of society go into politics in New Jersey.