Toms River Mayor Recall Effort Begins As Petition Is Officially Certified

TOMS RIVER, NJ — For more than a year, yellow signs and shirts saying "Dump Dan Rodrick" have been popping up in Toms River.

Now there's action behind those words, as a petition to recall Mayor Daniel Rodrick has officially launched in Toms River.

The petition, certified on Tuesday by Toms River Municipal Clerk Stephen Hensel, was launched by a group of Toms River residents angered over multiple actions Rodrick has taken since he was sworn in as mayor on Jan. 1, 2024.

The Committee to Recall Daniel Rodrick, led by residents Phillip Brilliant, Dana Tormollan and Christopher Raimann, now has 160 days to get the signatures.

Under state law, a recall petition needs signatures from 25 percent of the number of registered voters in Toms River at the last general election before the recall intent was filed. Toms River had 73,853 registered voters for the Nov. 5, 2024 election, meaning the committee needs a minimum of 18,464 signatures to force a recall election.

The group aims to get 22,000 signatures by the submission deadline, which is Jan. 25, 2026. The collection effort is set to begin with a rally at 1 p.m. Sunday at the park on the corner of Washington and Robbins streets.

In its statement of the intent to recall Rodrick, the group cited multiple issues that have been sources of controversy since Rodrick took office.

"Under his leadership, critical services have been cut," the statement says, citing the decrease in the number of sworn police officers in the Toms River Police Department and the closure of the Toms River Animal Shelter. The petition also cites the proposal to take over Christ Episcopal Church by eminent domain to turn it into a recreation space.

"Rodrick has shown no plan to address the growing homeless crisis, fighting county officials and nonprofits, leaving homeless without support," the statement says. "His personal agenda is evident in the purchase of properties for parks to put his name on them, rather than prioritizing community needs."

"His administration has dismissed or forced out over 80 employees, undermining stability and morale within local government," the statement said. "We believe it is in the best interest of the community to recall Daniel Rodrick and elect leadership committed to transparency, accountability and genuine service to all residents. These actions collectively demonstrat a failure of leadership and we request a Special Election."

Rodrick filed a formal response to the petition, saying it "is organized and financed by the Mo Hill Gang, and by special interests who want a city of High-Rises downtown. My administration stopped the towers and repealed the 15-story zoning downtown, stopping developers' plans for a city of high-rises."

"We kept taxes flat for two years in a row, cutting the budget 9% eliminating $11 Million in wasteful spending. We also stopped 3000 new apartments and met the state's low-income housing mandate without any new construction," Rodrick said.

"These are just our headline accomplishments. We've also commissioned several new parks, two spray parks, a municipal pier, and we got grant funding to extend the Boardwalk in Ortley Beach. We did all this without raising municipal taxes. I could go on but there are too many accomplishments to list," he wrote. "The fact is, these petition organizers are just disgruntled Mo Hill loyalists who fed at the trough of government for decades. They'll say or do anything to get back in power!"

The recall committee said it has more than 250 committed volunteers who will be seeking to collect the signatures.

"Mayor Rodrick has fundamentally betrayed the trust of Toms River residents," Raimann said. "From backroom deals to the dismantling of our public services, he’s made decisions that serve political ambition, not the people who live here. We can’t afford to let this continue until 2027."

"This isn’t about politics," Brilliant said. "It’s about transparency, accountability, and protecting the character of Toms River. Rodrick has operated in the shadows, ignoring public input and eroding community values. The damage he’s done in just a short time is unacceptable, and the people deserve a say now, not two years from now."

"We have watched our town get divided and decisions forced through with no regard for residents," Tormollan said. "This recall is our constitutional right — and it’s our responsibility. We can’t wait until 2027 while our neighborhoods, and governance suffer."

The committee said it will have people at the Washington Street park until 4 p.m. on Sunday collecting signatures, along with going door-to-door in the township.

The recall effort is the culmination of more than 18 months of conflict that has included numerous shouting matches at Toms River Township Council meetings, with Rodrick repeatedly denouncing criticisms as coming from a small group and insisting he has the support of a vast majority of the township's residents.

That appeared to have changed in June during the Republican primary, when three of the four nominations for the council seats that are up for election went to the opponents of Rodrick's candidates.

The furor over the police department's dwinding roster has been simmering since Rodrick first announced the elimination of two captains' positions, three weeks after he took office as mayor. A petition challenging the ordinance that made the cuts received the needed number of signatures and was certified, but Rodrick later withdrew the ordinance and instead has refused to fill the two positions.

In the months since, there have been a number of retirements with only a handful of sworn officers hired, and the roster has decreased to 148 as of Aug. 1. A list of potential hires was canceled in the spring, with Rodrick saying they were based on nepotism. New hiring rules have since been approved by the Township Council, allowing police officers who are military veterans to be hired without having received a college degree. Rodrick said the change will open the door for the department to hire more veterans. The revisions also aim to make it easier for the town to attract and hire officers who have worked in other towns, Rodrick has said.

The town has posted notices welcoming police officer applications since the passage of the ordinance.

The proposal to take over the Christ Episcopal Church property by eminent domain has generated a much higher level of outrage in the town, however, with clergy on the township's interfaith council opposing the move and state Episcopal Church leadership promising to fight any effort to take the land. The township has twice postponed a final vote on the ordinance that would start the process, but Christ Church leaders say they will not rest until it is publicly withdrawn.