Don�t trust Trump, Atlantic City critics warn America

AFP, ATLANTIC CITY, United States: Con Kimura got the best Christmas bonus of his life working for Donald Trump in Atlantic City in 1984. But he still won’t vote for him as president.
“Never in a million years,” the emphatic 64-year-old retiree told AFP, standing outside the shuttered casino where he worked 30 years ago on the city’s famed boardwalk, as a cold wind whipped off the Ocean.
When Kimura was a casino floor supervisor at Trump Plaza from 1984-88, the celebrity New York billionaire was a hero in the New Jersey coastal resort.
The flashy tycoon invested heavily, bringing glitz and glamor—encouraging tourism after the city legalized gaming in a bid to rescue a sagging economy.
He employed thousands of people. Three of his casinos, Trump Plaza, Trump Castle and the Taj Mahal contracted local businesses to provide services as diverse as liquor, laundry and limousines.
Michael Jackson came to the opening of the Taj in 1990. “Baywatch” beauty Pamela Anderson visited. Mike Tyson boxed his way to victory.
“Being Donald Trump at the time was probably a better gig than being president of the United States,” recalls Kimura. “People loved him.” But then things collapsed. The Taj—the gaudy construct that late author Harper Lee likened to hell on Earth—went bankrupt in 1991, a year after opening.
The Plaza followed in 1992. Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts filed for bankruptcy in 2004, as did Trump Entertainment Resorts in 2009.
On the campaign trail, the Republican frontrunner downplays the four corporate bankruptcies as restructuring that did not hurt “nice, sweet little people.”
But in a series of interviews with AFP, critics in the largely Democrat town beg to differ. The lesson of their brush with Trump, they say, is: Don’t believe him—he won’t deliver what he promises.
It has been years since Trump held any stake in Atlantic City and he boasts of quitting before the city fell into serious recession as other gaming destinations cropped up across the East Coast.
“That’s simply not close to the truth,” says Steven Perskie, a former judge who wrote the legislation that legalized gaming in Atlantic City and who was chairman of the Casino Control Commission from 1990-94.
“While they were legally entitled to do what they did,” said Perskie, “the devastating impact that their decisions had on so many other people and so many other small businesses in this area have never been acknowledged.”
When Trump first invested in Atlantic City he told regulators he would never rely on junk bonds as others had done. “Well he did,” said Perskie.
“He never invested 10 cents of his own money in any of this,” he recalls. “He borrowed it all and he borrowed it under circumstances that... were creating an intolerable risk.”
It wasn’t just investors who lost millions. Local suppliers went to the wall. Many went out of business or took years to recover, Perskie said.
In 1997 he joined a private law firm, hired by Trump, but which severed ties with the mogul when bills went unpaid for a year or two.
Michael Diehl, 88, was another who got burnt. Since setting up his Freehold Music Center in 1951, he says only one corporate customer ever defaulted—Trump—on a $100,000 check for eight Yamaha pianos for the Taj.

 

Don�t trust Trump, Atlantic City critics warn America

AFP, ATLANTIC CITY, United States: Con Kimura got the best Christmas bonus of his life working for Donald Trump in Atlantic City in 1984. But he still wont vote for him as president. Never in a million years, the emphatic 64-year-old retiree told AFP, standing outside the shuttered casino where he worked 30 years ago on the citys famed boardwalk, as a cold wind whipped off the Ocean. When Kimura was a casino floor supervisor at Trump Plaza from 1984-88, the celebrity New York billionaire was a hero in the New Jersey coastal resort. The flashy tycoon invested heavily, bringing glitz and glamorencouraging tourism after the city legalized gaming in a bid to rescue a sagging economy. He employed thousands of people. Three of his casinos, Trump Plaza, Trump Castle and the Taj Mahal contracted local businesses to provide services as diverse as liquor, laundry and limousines. Michael Jackson came to the opening of the Taj in 1990. Baywatch beauty Pamela Anderson visited. Mike Tyson boxed his way to victory. Being Donald Trump at the time was probably a better gig than being president of the United States, recalls Kimura. People loved him. But then things collapsed. The Tajthe gaudy construct that late author Harper Lee likened to hell on Earthwent bankrupt in 1991, a year after opening. The Plaza followed in 1992. Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts filed for bankruptcy in 2004, as did Trump Entertainment Resorts in 2009. On the campaign trail, the Republican frontrunner downplays the four corporate bankruptcies as restructuring that did not hurt nice, sweet little people. But in a series of interviews with AFP, critics in the largely Democrat town beg to differ. The lesson of their brush with Trump, they say, is: Dont believe himhe wont deliver what he promises. It has been years since Trump held any stake in Atlantic City and he boasts of quitting before the city fell into serious recession as other gaming destinations cropped up across the East Coast. Thats simply not close to the truth, says Steven Perskie, a former judge who wrote the legislation that legalized gaming in Atlantic City and who was chairman of the Casino Control Commission from 1990-94. While they were legally entitled to do what they did, said Perskie, the devastating impact that their decisions had on so many other people and so many other small businesses in this area have never been acknowledged. When Trump first invested in Atlantic City he told regulators he would never rely on junk bonds as others had done. Well he did, said Perskie. He never invested 10 cents of his own money in any of this, he recalls. He borrowed it all and he borrowed it under circumstances that... were creating an intolerable risk. It wasnt just investors who lost millions. Local suppliers went to the wall. Many went out of business or took years to recover, Perskie said. In 1997 he joined a private law firm, hired by Trump, but which severed ties with the mogul when bills went unpaid for a year or two. Michael Diehl, 88, was another who got burnt. Since setting up his Freehold Music Center in 1951, he says only one corporate customer ever defaultedTrumpon a $100,000 check for eight Yamaha pianos for the Taj.