Trading Tax Dollars For the Key to the City

摘要

Tony Mack,the mayor of Trenton, N.J., fired a third of the city's police force in September to help close an $18smil-lion hole in the city's budget. So when Governor Chris Christie offered him $22 million in state aid the following month, the Democratic mayor was in no position to turn down the Republican-even though the handout came with a long list of conditions that effectively strip Mack of many of his powers. Under the deal, Christie gets to keep watch over nearly every penny that Trenton spends.