Leader Interview

 

Leader Interview: Eric Scheffler,

Executive Director, Casino Reinvestment Development Authority (CRDA)

 

Jane Bokunewicz (JB): Hello everyone! Welcome to the LIGHTs On Leader Interview presented by the Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming Hospitality and Tourism at Stockton University, also known as LIGHT. I'm the Faculty Director of LIGHT. My name is Jane Bokunewicz, and I'm honored to be joined today by Eric Scheffler, the Executive Director of the CRDA.

Eric, thank you so much for sharing your time with us today, and your insight.

Eric Scheffler (ES): My pleasure, Jane, I look forward to our conversation.

JB: I'm going to start with a really broad question, and I'll let you answer that any way you like. Who is Eric Scheffler?

ES: Yeah, that's pretty broad.

ES: So, you know the simple answer. Eric Scheffler - born and raised here. A hometown person, hometown boy. Who has spent his entire life in public service.

I'm the 3rd generation, right out of Atlantic City. My grandparents on both sides lived here and had businesses here. My mother lived here and worked here and attended Atlantic City High School. I was born in Atlantic City Hospital along with my brothers. I attended Atlantic City High School, graduated Atlantic Community College, and also graduated Stockton, and then spend most of my adult life in the in the city as a police officer. I retired as a police lieutenant from Atlantic City in 2015, and then was elected to two terms as sheriff in 2017 of Atlantic County.

This is home and I've been a public servant my entire life. I love this community. I love Atlantic City. I love this island. I spent most of my life on the beaches and the boardwalk and on the streets.

 I'm here to try to make a difference.

JB: That's great to have a public servant who has really grown up in Atlantic City because it's clear you really care about the city. What a great background!

What highlights of your career have led you to this position? Now, as Executive Director of the CRDA

ES: We spoke a little bit about that. Me being a police officer in the city, of course, for almost my whole adult life. But I had other jobs here. Right?  I actually worked in the casinos as a kid. I was an usher in in the theater. I was a dealer. I worked in the health club in in one of the casinos. I delivered pizza as a kid here in Atlantic City.

I also worked for the Salvation Army when I was a Stockton student, in their travel assistance program. I taught Kkrate and martial arts in the city to youth at different times. I was actually a substitute school teacher at the high school as well.

I was between becoming a school teacher, a fireman or police officer and in the end the police department called me first.

What has led me here is not so much all of the jobs and things, or even being the sheriff. What I believe has led me here is the long-term relationships that I have built, not only as a child growing up here – many of the people that I went to school with, and we're friends, are running different casinos, or running the hospital, running Stockton –  but with our elected officials or business owners or community members. What has led me here are those relationships that I have built over 57 years.  

And then also, honestly, the love for the community and the city where I see so much potential.

I could have retired after my last position – my wife keeps telling me that I don't ever retire, I just keep changing jobs – but the opportunity to work with the city, to build, bring my relationships to try to bridge some of those gaps that we have between groups... Atlantic City is historically well known for silos, and all these people in these silos aren't bad people. They're great people, they have incredible ideas, and they have driven passion. But, one of the greatest challenges for me, and the city, is ultimately to bridge that gap, to bridge that conversation.

I could disagree with you, Jane, and still really respect your point of view and your opinion. But a lot of times when we don’t do that, we disagree with each other, and we think that we have to create an enemy. We don't. My goal honestly as CRDA Director is to be able to disagree, even walk into rooms with other people, but keep that conversation open.

The only thing that really allows me to keep that conversation open is the relationships that I've built for so many years. I have a lot of people that I can say to them, hey, I understand your point of view, there's a lot of merit in that point of view, but I think differently. Let me give you my point of view, and maybe we can figure out common ground. And that's really how we get change.

You want to make enemies fast? Propose change. Even change that you want, because it may not be the change the way you see that change is happening.

It's a very difficult process. It's huge, it's so hard, and it's one of the things that have been an impediment here in Atlantic City for so long.

So many wonderful people out there trying to do so many great things. We just have to be able to get them all to sit at the table, and then maybe compromise a little bit and get the job done.

JB: That is great advice. I think we all could use a reminder of that. That we respect each other, even though we have different opinions.

You talked about a few challenges that you're facing. Are there any success stories you'd like to share with us?

ES: Success is different for everyone. I like little successes right now. It’s like ‘how to eat an elephant’ – I have no idea why you would want to eat an elephant, but – one bite at a time. Right?

I've had great success stories throughout my career, here in Atlantic County, especially with some of the outreach programs that I've created that had never existed. And some of the education opportunities that I've created, both in law enforcement in the sheriff's office and the ACPD. I was instrumental in bringing the first ever agency in-service program to the police department when I was there. I did similar things as the sheriff, and I did similar things in the community when it came to substance use, mental health, and food insecurities and addressing some other issues.

If you look at me as a person, my background is in public safety and public health.

And people would say, how does that correlate to the reinvestment and development of a city? And that is a challenge, right? Well, I think my successes on that side are that I can bridge those gaps between those areas, and I think that really good public safety, needs really good public health to be successful and vice versa.

And reinvestment and redevelopment need both of those foundational pillars to really attract people and to encourage people to start investing in a community and developing a community.

People asked me when I first got to the CRDA, what industry you're going to bring? What new business are you going to bring to change Atlantic City?

I said, I'm not 100% sure on that. But what I do know is that industry and businesses don't change communities, people do.

We need to absolutely look at redevelopment from the businesses and economics and commercial side of the of it, and we have done some of those things right already since I've been here. But what we really need to understand is, how do we invest in people? And how do we attract people back to the city as a community?

 

 

JB: You touched on some of the things in this next question. But what is your vision for the future of Atlantic City?

ES:  It's an easy answer for me. The reality of that is that we create an environment where everyone feels valued, and what I mean is that the casinos, the merchants, the tourists, the residents – everyone, feels valued in a safe and healthy community. That's what I envision.

What a beautiful setting we have right to the south of us and to the north of us. We have communities that, especially in the summertime, they're so busy when you drive into them it looks like they'll sink right there. It's like, how can you push any more people in here? We can do that here, too, we have everything they have and more. We just have to create a foundational change in some of those areas.

Now, the funny thing is, when it comes to public safety and public health and reinvestment and development, there's not one group – there's not one elected official on one side of the table or the other, not one industry, not residents, not tourists, not the city, administration - we all agree that changes are needed to move forward.

The challenge, of course, ultimately, is how we do it.

JB: You are fairly newly appointed to this position, what role do you see the CRDA playing in that vision for the future?

ES: Reinvestment and redevelopment, we have some ways to encourage that, and we're working on a pathway to development within the Authority itself to help encourage developers to come here and try to remove impediments. We're working with the city administration to actually create something that works along all people's lines – from union leadership to utilities – and really make that a more straightforward, viable pathway.

But what does that really mean? Well, my role that I see, and the role of the Authority, is to bridge those gaps, to create those conversations.

I can call political leaders from both sides of the party and ask them to come. Sit down. I have those relationships. I can call union leaders and utility authority leadership and city administration and elected officials here. I can get them to the table to bridge that gap, to remove impediments, so we can all be successful in this whole venue.

JB: Thank you. We're very lucky to have you on the LIGHT Advisory Board. We're thrilled that you've joined us, and I know it's kind of new. But, what role do you think LIGHT will play in the future of Atlantic City?

ES: I think LIGHT really plays an important part. Because, I could have all these great ideas, and someone else can have all these great ideas, and we can even implement some of them. But we need to understand what is working and what is not working, and sometimes because of our own biases. Because, not in a negative way, but in a passionate, driven way,  we fail to see where we could do better. We fail to see where we could have addressed something. LIGHT, I think, does an incredible job of examining, not only projects, but issues. And I think they can really play an important part for not only the CRDA, but the entire city moving forward to take a look at some of these challenges and try to figure out, maybe better ways for us to address them.

JB: Thank you. And as I said, we're thrilled to have you on the Board, and we look forward to your guidance in the future.

Is there anything else you'd like to comment on that you haven't touched on yet, about either your background or your vision.

ES: I think I probably spoke more than enough about myself. But what I'd love the listeners to hear is that Atlantic City is alive and well. It's a beautiful community, with incredible opportunities, both, for first-time buyers as well as developers.

Please come, take a look at us. We're trying our best. And the authority is going to do its best to create a developer-friendly atmosphere, and to help people thrive in this community.

JB: Wow! Thank you so much. This has been so interesting and insightful. Thank you for taking the time to do the interview and for sharing your vision of the future in Atlantic City.

ES: Thank you so much, Jane. I really appreciate your time and this opportunity.