Atlantic City corrupted again as mayor disappears

By Jon Hurdle

ATLANTIC CITY, New Jersey (Reuters) - To most Americans Atlantic City is host to seedy casinos, poverty, crime, murder and corrupt politics.

Now the one-time home of Miss America is in the news for all the wrong reasons again; its mayor has gone missing after being caught embellishing his Vietnam War record.

Mayor Robert Levy told aides on September 29 he was taking sick leave, and verbally transferred authority to city official Domenic Capella in a move that members of the city council say is illegal. Levy has not been heard from since.

The crisis brought New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine to the city's famed boardwalk on Friday where he told a news conference, "What the situation is today can't go on for any extended period of time."

"I don't think it's slipping into dysfunctionality but it very easily could do," he said.

Corzine said he had asked the state's attorney general to look into whether Levy's actions were an abandonment of office and called on city leaders to resolve the crisis soon.

"I'm not here to advocate for a state takeover," he said.

Members of the nine-seat city council asked the state attorney general if Levy was entitled to hand power to Capella, and at least one councilor is seeking a declaration from a judge that Levy acted illegally.