Worst Mayor in America Resides in Toms River

Fox News maybe reporting that the worst Mayor in America resides in Illinois, but the residents of Toms River were reminded at the Township Council Meeting on Wednesday, April 24 that Mayor Henyard is an angel compared to Mayor Daniel Rodrick. Just over 115 in office and the chaos that follows Mayor Rodrick has turned Council Meetings into can’t miss reality television. If it wasn’t true and wasn’t destroying the fiber of the great town of Toms River, it would be funny. There is nothing funny about Mayor Daniel Rodrick…it’s scary!

Council meetings continue to be zoo-like with Mayor Rodrick and his self-anointed, non-qualified Business Administrator Jonathan Salonis by his side, as they yell at residents during public comment and speak about residents to each other on a live microphone. Mayor Rodrick’s self-appointed Council President, Craig Coleman, who is nice guy, but has been sold a “bag of goods” by Rodrick, has no control over meetings, so at his direction (most probably at someone else’s direction but he is Council President) public comment has now been limited to 3 minutes per person and there shall be no public comment during the consent agenda section of the meetings. The practice of the public asking for individual discussion and comment on consent agenda items has been standard at Toms River Council meetings for as long as I can remember. In addition the recording of the Council meetings are immediately removed from the Township YouTube Channel after the meetings. Make no mistake, Mayor Rodrick has no interest in transparency and wants to lead Toms River with chaos and secrecy.

Toms River residents need to be aware of the three recent actions:

1. At the Mayor’s direction the Council approved Jonathan Salonis to be the Business Administrator and Acting CFO (because no one wants to work in the Rodrick Administration), two positions the former DJ and politician operative has no experience or required certifications. In addition he was given check signing ability for the Township - we call that “ The Fox Watching the Hen House!”
2. Unbeknown to the residents of Toms River, Mayor Rodrick and his “staff” has re-written the guidelines for obtaining a Certificate of Occupancy (CO) on Rentals to open the doors to “slumlords”, hence creating “the slums of Toms River.” Requirements such as the following have been removed: removal of debris and garbage from property, removal of abandoned vehicles from property, rodent inspections, window screens, wood-burning stove or fireplace certifications, and much much more (limited new list available on line). Until Mayor Rodrick’s administration landlord’s were held to a higher standard to assure safety for the tenants and preserved neighborhoods.
3. At the April 24, 2024 Council Meeting, even after hours of public comment and statistics about the value, safety and clean operation of the Toms River Animal Shelter, the Council voted 4-3 (Coleman, O’Toole, Lobman and Lamb voted in favor) to lease the building and turn operations over to Ocean County for $1/year. Even with a trust fund (original donation of $1M), a County that has historically said they have no interest and a strong and passionate opposition by Councilman Nivison, the Council stooges ignored all and voted for Mayor Rodrick’s plan. The residents will remember this Election Day and future Election Days until they are GONE!

Once again, the residents of Toms River need to ban together to remind the Mayor and Council that “they work for us.” We have 20 days from today (May 14) to present a petition of 3,079 verified registered voters of Toms River Township to the Township Clerk to send the Ordinance back to Council - just like we did with the ordinance to cut the police, however this time the Mayor has no power to “do what he wants.” Please follow “Toms River Residents for Transparency” on Facebook to find out how you can help and where you can sign the petition. Bullies like Mayor Daniel Rodrick need to be held accountable by us, the tax payers of Toms River and only WE can vote for change!

Philip I. Brilliant

Toms River