We all read of the corruption in politics in Washington. The bloated earmarks from which many of us never see any benefits, problems with lobbyists who get their hooks into elected officials and never cut them loose and constant campaign mode for all offices which precludes accomplishing anything worthwhile for citizens is rampant.

Well, in Atalantic City, New Jersey, the word corrupt has been the standardbearer for local politics for what seems like forever. If you are aware of the abuses of power there, they seem to far exceed those at the federal level.

When Bob Levy announced his resignation on Wednesday, he became the third mayor since the dawn of casino gambling 30 years ago to leave office under a cloud.

His departure, which is expected to set off a political donnybrook over a successor, capped a 14-month period in which corruption, scandal and outlandish behavior reached an unprecedented level even by local standards.

In a little over a year, city residents have seen:

Three members of City Council, including the former council president, convicted of accepting bribes in a cash-for-contracts scheme.

Another City Council member videotaped having sex with a prostitute in a motel room, in a plot to force him out of office hatched by his political opponents - including the aforementioned former City Council president.

A fifth councilman who was arrested on a drunken-driving charge on the beach at 2:30 in the morning, in his city-issued vehicle.

A sixth councilman indicted by a county grand jury along with the former council president and two of the president’s brothers on conspiracy, coercion and invasion of privacy charges stemming from the motel sex-video scheme.

The most recent City Council president, who two days ago became mayor, refusing to return his share of an $850,000 settlement he was awarded in a civil suit filed against the city. The New Jersey Supreme Court, in overturning the settlement, ruled that it was “so infected with conflicts of interest that it is void as a matter of state law.”

Two long-time political operatives charged in the cash-for-contracts scheme pleading guilty amid reports that they are now FBI cooperators. But not before one was found collapsed behind the wheel of his car from what police said was a self-inflicted bullet wound to the chest in a botched suicide attempt.

And Levy disappearing for two weeks while in a rehab clinic, then surfacing to resign on Wednesday as his lawyer acknowledged he is the target of a federal probe into allegations he had enhanced his military record to collect a larger pension.

The Philadelphia Inquirer happens to be our local paper. It has consistently over the years detailed the difficulties in Atalntic City, which makes one wonder how the voters can continue to find these less than scrupulous individuals appealing at the ballot box.

Now I am left to wonder how they will feel about their “acting Mayor”:

Hours after being sworn in as acting mayor, William “Speedy” Marsh asked a state judge to delay a decision on how and when he must repay a $363,000 debt to the city “until this little mayoral thing works itself out.”

Marsh, the City Council president, took over from former Mayor Bob Levy who resigned Wednesday, citing health problems and a federal investigation into veteran’s disability payments he received stemming from his Vietnam war service. With Levy’s resignation, which followed his two-week disappearance, Marsh became acting mayor.

The $363,000 Marsh must repay the city is his portion of a payout to him and a former mayor to settle a lawsuit they filed claiming they had been fired from board of education jobs due to political retaliation.

In May, the state Supreme Court ruled that Marsh and Lorenzo Langford, who would later be elected mayor, should not have received the settlement, which the court termed “infected by intolerable conflicts of interest.” (Langford was in office as mayor when City Council approved the payments.)

Marsh says he needs a little breathing room before he repays the money.

“I absolutely will pay it back,” he said in an interview with the Associated Press yesterday. “I’m not going to duck it. We’re just asking for it to be suspended until this little mayoral thing works itself out.”

He needs “breathing room” as “this little mayoral thing works itself out”? Does that sound like a bad joke or am I being a bit cynical here?

It seems to me that any city deserves far better representation than what Atlantic City has come to accept. Perhaps when the Democratic Party nominates its individuals to replace the disgraced Mayor Levy, they will think twice about permanently installing Mr. Marsh.

Marsh said he is interested in being named mayor until a special election can be held next year.

“I hope I do a good enough job, and maybe I can pursue it,” he said. “If I can get a month under my belt, and people like what I’m doing, maybe I’ll continue on.”

The local Democratic Party has 15 days to nominate three people to serve as mayor. If the council picks one, that person will serve until a special election next year. Another mayoral election will be held in 2009.

Or perhaps this assurance from the acting mayor will be enough to catapult him permanently into the office.

“The residents and the business community don’t have to worry,” he said. “The embarrassment has to stop, and we have to have good leadership.”

Uh-huh.