More than a year ago, Atlantic City was facing bankruptcy and was more than 0 million in debt, so the idea of a winning a million prize from Bloomberg Philanthropies might have seemed like a drop in the bucket.
But the money—if won—would be used to solve larger social issues in the resort such as unemployment, education issues and even improving the city’s image. So, the city has joined the 2017 Mayors Challenge—a nationwide competition hosted by Bloomberg Philanthropies to identify pressing city issues and give cities the chance to win money to implement ideas to solve them.
The move meant Bloomberg Philanthropies conducted an all-day workshop with public officials and business leaders to focus on idea development and skill training to identify the city’s concerns and how to address them, according to a report in the Press of Atlantic City.
The city is one of 555 cities that have signed up for the contest, Bloomberg said.
“The incredible response to this year’s challenge really shows how cities are taking the reins to drive our nation forward and how eager mayors from both parties are to collaborate and try new things,” Michael R. Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies said in a press statement. “We’re looking forward to seeing the great ideas that cities propose and develop through the challenge.”
In January, 35 cities will be named Champion Cities and will receive $100,000 to implement an idea. Five finalists will be chosen in October 2018, one of which will win $5 million. The four other cities will receive $1 million each.
“Regardless of how we fare in the contest, Atlantic City will move forward with initiatives to bring more jobs and better training to our city,” Atlantic City Mayor Don Guardian said in a press statement.
Guardian said after the workshop discussed major issues in the city that the competition funds could help address, such as employment, bettering the city’s graduation rate and improving the image of the city. Guardian said the group will meet again with other constituents in the city to discuss and refine the ideas and then submit its application to the contest.
In the meantime, the city—under fiscal control of the State of New Jersey—has been working to settle outstanding tax refunds owed to casinos, lowering its debt substantially.
