Atlantic City: A Ship Without a Captain

How many times have you looked at trash on your street, a neighbor's house in extreme disrepair, a pot-hole riddled street...and thought "I am calling the mayor's office about this."?

Well, if you live in Atlantic City, NJ here's what you'd get:
Hi...this is Mayor Bob Levy. Sorry, I can't come to the phone right now. You see, I've completely vacated my authority. Please forgive the inconvenience, but in my haste to disappear, I completely forgot to legally appoint an acting mayor...so really...the city is kind of screwed right now. Leave a message. *BEEP*

Since September 26th, Atlantic City mayor Bob Levy has not been seen, his whereabouts are unknown, and he has had no personal, verbal contact with other city officials.

On the morning of September 26th, Mayor Levy called in sick from work and allegedly left home in his city-issued vehicle. The onl yofficial explaination given by the mayor's office was that he was sick, and he was somewhere else.

In Levy's absence, controversial City Business Administrator Dominic Capella claimed that Levy had named him acting mayor and he was running the town. However, Capella could not produce any evidence that proved his claims.

On Friday, October 5th Atlantic City resident Steve Young led a march on city hall to protest the lack of information regarding the mayor's apparent disappearance. When Young and his group reached the mayor's office he was met by Capella & Chief of Police John Mooney. It was at this time that Capella made his claim of being acting mayor.

The mystery of the disappearing mayor was revealed Tuesday afternoon when Mayor Levy's personal attorney announced:

source

Some speculation regarding the authenticity of Levy's illness has arisen...since it was announced that he is part of a federal investigation into allegations that Levy lied about his military service in order to increase his pension benefits. This investigation was likely initiated after Levy admitted publicly to lying about his duties while stationed in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. It was reported on November 10, 2006:

source

The legal future of the Mayor's office may be known soon since a Superior court judge is expected to make a ruling based on complaints by a city politican:

Source

So...it would appear that the old addage is true; You can't fight city hall...if there's nobody there to fight.

so...poorly written? Not very interesting?

I actually thought it was an interesting story, but there didn't seem much to say about it. While unusual (and, truth be told, kind of entertaining), it's also pretty local.

Yeah...I knew the potential lack of interest being a localized story. I just thought it was interesting seeing as...the guy just vanished...along with the added coincidence of the federal investigation.

Not whining...so much as looking for constructive criticism.

Thanks.

It only would have been better if the police chief tazered some protesters and the mayor turned up buried in the end zone of some famous stadium.

I loved it!

I'm sure that could be arranged...

I enjoyed the story Cash Like others have already stated, it didn't really bring anything to table to talk about.
Maybe some kind of Sopranos joke? Or a questioning of what a city should do when this happens? Call Batman?
I don't know.
Please don't take my suggestions seriously in any way. There are a number of great reasons why I do not submit articles.

No...I appreciate the input. I'm not a writer (obviously)...just trying my hand at it. In the past, I've done my fair share of bitching about the News department....I figured it'd only be fair if I put something of mine out there.

You should have added "fuck Bush". Two pages, guaranteed.
I actually read this a little while ago in the paper, but I'm glad to see it on the boards. I'm continually surprised when something happens in the news that I would imagine people would be talking about, yet it doesn't make the boards.