TOMS RIVER – The race for mayor and council is hitting an important milestone on June 6 with the primary election. This is when the voters of each party decide who they want to run in November.
There are four candidates running for mayor – and that’s just on the Republican side. Most residents have already been hit by a lot of social media posts, mailers, and robocalls about this election. The Toms River Times reached out to each Republican mayoral candidate and asked them to submit a short statement to readers. Their comments have only been edited for such things as grammar or punctuation, or to trim to get it close to the requested 450 words. The candidates are presented in alphabetical order.
The election will be for mayor and three at-large council candidates (which means they can live anywhere in town). If chosen, they will serve for four years.
The Regular Democratic Organization of Ocean County is running John Furey for mayor, with Michelle Williams, Kajal Lal and Rhetta Jackson-Fair for council. Paul C. Williams is also running for council under the slogan “Be The Change You Wanna See.” However, this article will be focusing on the more contentious race.
Geri Ambrosio is running the team Toms River First Republicans. She is the former president of the Toms River Regular Republican Club, and she works in the Berkeley Township Tax Assessor’s Office. Ambrosio’s running mates are former Assistant Township Attorney R. Garry Mundy; Norvella “Pug” Lightbody, widow of former Mayor Roden S. Lightbody and secretary on the township Parking Authority’s Board of Commissioners; and Sergio Fossa, a staff pastor and elder at Grace Bible Church in Wall.
“My name is Geri Ambrosio and I have been a proud resident of Toms River for the last 54 years. I raised my children here and have been an active member of the Toms River community helping residents as a realtor, property appraiser and community advocate, serving on various boards to raise awareness and funding to address the needs of the residents in our community.
“Toms River is at a crossroads. We are facing out-of-control overdevelopment and we are seeing open space getting bulldozed in favor of high-rises and apartments. One example of this is the proposed development in Downtown Toms River that would see an out-of-town developer build high rise apartments and potentially threaten the future of Huddy Park!
“I believe that the future for Toms River can be bright, but we need to change direction fast. As I go door to door and speak with concerned residents across Toms River, I repeatedly hear from voters how much they love the small-town charm that Toms River has had for decades. The good news is that it is not too late to save it!
“My plan for Toms River is simple:
- Stop the proposed development in Downtown Toms River
- Create fair zoning and code enforcement policies to replace the poorly written laws that are currently in place
- Cut wasteful spending and ensure all departments are running efficiently
- Eliminate political patronage hires and end corruption
- Restore necessary 24/7 EMS service to the barrier island community
“Once we have addressed these immediate needs, we can begin planning for the long-term future of our town. One of the biggest threats to our community is the continued cuts to school
aid by the state. Our community already receives significantly less aid from the state than other districts. These cuts negatively impact our children and threaten the jobs of countless teachers
and professionals in our schools. Toms River needs a plan to ensure we receive our fair share of funding, no matter who the Governor is in Trenton.
“Finally, we need to unite our community. Division and hate have no home in Toms River. We all must come together to build the next Toms River, while still preserving the values that made us move here in the first place. I am confident that if we bring leaders from our diverse community together, we can find common ground for everyone. That’s what leadership is. Within the first 90 days of my administration, I will form a working group that will solicit ideas from the community and ensure that we make Toms River the best town in the State of New Jersey for
all our families and for all future generations to come.”
Robert Bianchini, an engineer and director of capital projects and public facilities for Asbury Park’s Public Works Department, is running for mayor with no council running mates. His slogan is ” Responsibility and Accountability.”
“As a lifelong resident and a former small business owner (25 years) in Toms River, I have a great adoration for the town and it’s residents.
“I am a strong conservative and believe government should be working for the people, limited in its power and existing only to serve the public. As such, no tax abatements would be given to developers on the back of our taxpayers and no unjust re-evaluations will be done, especially to our seniors living on fixed incomes!
“We do not have a revenue problem in our town, we have a spending problem!
“I am very concerned with the overdevelopment which is causing massive traffic congestion and excess runoff into the Barnegat Bay. The runoff is also contributing to flooding along coastal areas along the bay.
“I will utilize my extensive expertise in infrastructure to address many of these issues.
“We cannot afford to have someone in office with no knowledge of how to run the municipal government, plan a budget, spend resources, or prioritize capital projects. My experience in these areas will save the taxpayers millions of dollars.
“I will address downtown Toms River, making it a vibrant area to attract small businesses and families, but before that can be done parking, roads, traffic studies/flows, sanitation, security all need to be addressed. Building cannot continue to be done without adding to the existing traffic congestion crisis.
“We cannot mimic other vibrant cities (Red Bank, Asbury Park) due to us not having NJ Transit or a strong public transportation system. We can, however, build a state of the art parking structure with an outdoor gathering place on the roof to bring families, watch fireworks, have movie nights, possibly concerts, etc. It would have bathrooms and security making it a family friendly environment. The parking structure would allow for periodic street closures, freeing up areas for outdoor dining, festivals, street musicians, car shows, etc.
“We need to stop illegal multi-family housing in residential neighborhoods. This puts a burden on infrastructure and diminishes our quality of life. I will make this a priority, as I have spoken to many residents who feel very strongly about this issue.
“Houses of worship must meet state and federal regulations which are in place to protect neighborhoods from overbuilding and overdevelopment.
“I would revisit the C.O. inspection protocol for existing homes.
“The Republican Party must come together for the good of our community! The division is harming all of our residents and must end. The negativity and false statements don’t help our town! Voters should be able to choose the best candidates based on their accomplishments, resumes, work history and plans to improve our town. Candidates should not be chosen by a select few on a panel choosing who they want to put in office for their own interests.
“The future can be very bright for Toms River! I plan to restore the suburban, beach town feel we once enjoyed and can enjoy again!”
Mayor Maurice “Mo” Hill is running for re-election with the Regular Republican Organization of Ocean County. He is joined by his slate of sitting councilmen Matthew Lotano, a principal in the Lotano Development Corporation; Josh Kopp, a veteran and director of Kopp Electric Company; and Kevin Geoghegan, a retired Toms River Police Officer and member of EMS and fire departments.
“Should the voters of Toms River grant me a second term as their mayor, my top priorities will be:
“1) Continue the fight to reform the State’s school funding formula. S-2, the bill that established the formula, is deeply flawed. We saved the schools this year by fighting for the partial restoration of funding and by buying 17 developable acres at Silver Bay Elementary School. But we must have a long term solution.
“This is the biggest current threat to the quality of life in Toms River. Without good schools, families will flee. My biggest priority for the next year is to reform S-2. I will work with other leaders statewide to make sure this happens.
“2) Stopping over development. The ONLY way to stop over development is through the acquisition of Open Space. In the last four years, we have acquired almost 100 acres, a record, which will be preserved as recreation, passive recreation or kept in its natural state FOREVER. During my first term, there has been only one multi-family development approved – the downtown revitalization project which will provide high-end housing to medical professions from Community Medical Center and others. There is no affordable housing component of the downtown revitalization.
“All multi-family construction in the last four years was approved during the previous administration and is the result of the Court Order settlement with the Council On Affordable Housing (COAH).
“There will be no development on any of the Ciba-Geigy property so long as I am Mayor of Toms River.
“3) Defending our control of our zoning laws. During the first year of my term as mayor, the United States Department of Justice threatened to sue the Township under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) alleging that we have illegally used our zoning code to discriminate against the growing Orthodox community in Toms River. DOJ offered to enter into negotiations rather than sue. We hired the best RLUIPA lawyer in the country who advised that we settle because we would surely lose a lawsuit, lose control of our zoning and be subject to $15-20 million in fines to be paid by the property taxpayers. DOJ wanted 1 acre zoning for houses of worship anywhere in town. We settled for the zoning we had prior to 2017, 2 acres for houses of worship that cannot be built in residential neighborhoods.
“We need to do a better job communicating about this issue. Frankly, we’ve avoided talking about it due to ongoing litigation and the threat of litigation. Unfortunately, that has left a vacuum of information that has been filled with falsehoods and allegations that I have sold out. Better communication about this important issue is a top priority for my second term.”
Councilman Daniel Rodrick, a teacher, is running under the slogan “Save Toms River.” His running mates are Tom Nivison, owner of Silverton Farms; Lynn O’Toole, president of adult community Holiday City Silverton Phase II; and longtime educator Craig Coleman, former principal of Ocean County Vocational-Technical School.
“Toms River is in big trouble. Taxes are out of control and high-density, multi-family development continues to reshape our town. As homes are converted into houses of worship, quiet residential neighborhoods are being transformed into busy commercial streets. These changes are having a disastrous impact on taxes, quality of life, traffic and our schools.
“If elected mayor, my team and I will put an immediate stop to the high-rise apartments planned for downtown and we will repeal the downtown redevelopment plan. Renderings of the plan show 20 new high-rise buildings and the plan now allows building to 12 stories. Toms River is a township and we will not allow it to be turned into a city.
“Instead, the site of the Red Carpet Inn will become an extension of Huddy Park. We will seed it with grass and plant flowering trees. At the current site of the Boat Works, we will construct a pier like the one in Belmar. Then the township will get a concession license to serve alcoholic beverages and lease it out. We will work with the business improvement district to have regular firework displays over the river on Fridays in the summer and concerts in the park on weekends. This will be paid for by a reduction in staff at the BID. Currently the BID collects $280,000 a year and spends almost all of that on salaries. The BID needs to spend more of its budget to attract shoppers, and less on employing friends. If they do not comply, our team will dissolve the BID.
“We will put a stop to the out of control development in North Dover and throughout Toms River. My administration will reign in taxes by cutting wasteful spending, eliminating unnecessary positions, bidding out health insurance and by exploring shared services agreements with other towns. We will immediately repeal the township’s new Certificate of Occupancy Ordinance, which has had a disastrous impact on real estate transactions and we will work to streamline and improve service in the township’s building department.
“Our team will immediately address the need to improve EMS response times on the barrier island. This will be accomplished by putting an ambulance on the island 24/7. We will also work with neighboring island communities like Lavallette and Seaside on a shared services agreement that would allow providers in those communities to respond to our calls should Toms River be answering too many calls at once. Insurance companies and Medicare pay almost $1,000 per call. So the incentive is there for other providers to pick up residents in our beach communities. Waiting 25 to 30 minutes for an ambulance is unacceptable!”
