Feud Over Rock Star's Cafe And Homeless Has Mayor Looking At Legal Action

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Toms River Mayor Daniel Rodrick says the township is exploring legal action against nonprofit groups that he says dumped homeless people in the township.

Rodrick made the statement in response to a question about reports that he was seeking to shut down the JBJ Soul Kitchen's pop-up cafe at the Ocean County Library, which has been the focus of his complaints about homeless in downtown Toms River.

Reports by CBS News and NJ.com said Rodrick was seeking to close the cafe, which operates from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays in the site previously occupied by Dunkin Donuts. The JBJ Soul Foundation, founded by Dorothea and Jon Bon Jovi, has a contract with Ocean County to operate the cafe into May.

"We are exploring legal action against the nonprofits for dumping people in our town and for creating a public nuisance," Rodrick said in the message to Patch. "Additionally, we have damages as a result of cleaning up two homeless camps that were formed as a result of some of those nonprofits dumping people in our town."

He declined to identify what nonprofits might be the targets of legal action.

The JBJ Soul Foundation, which issued a statement previously rejecting the claim it was operating a soup kitchen, has not commented further on the issue.

"The JBJ Soul Foundation and JBJ Soul Kitchen are committed to ending homelessness through real solutions," Jon and Dorothea Bon Jovi said in an emailed statement April 4. "Through our JBJ Soul Kitchen, we connect people to resources and services. Whether they need employment, mental health support, or housing, we try to remove the barriers that are keeping them from thriving, not just surviving."

"We invite anyone to The B.E.A.T. Center in Toms River or to the JBJ Soul Kitchen Pop Up to see what we are doing to end homelessness and hunger in our community," the statement said.

The issue of homeless residents in Toms River has been a point of conflict going back to last summer.

A dispute between Rodrick and Just Believe Inc. and its CEO, Paul Hulse, led to Toms River terminating an agreement with that nonprofit to operate a Code Blue warming center at Riverwood Park off Whitesville Road. Just Believe had been operating the center, which assisted 30 to 35 people on each Code Blue night, for seven years.

Just Believe Inc. now operates a center in South Toms River that assists families that are unhoused with overnight shelter on Code Blue nights.

When the Ocean County Board of Commissioners announced plans to open a warming center at a county-owned building on Route 9 in Toms River, Rodrick threatened to sue Ocean County to stop the move. The center operated during the Code Blue season from Nov. 1 through March 31, serving 220 people over 88 Code Blue nights, and no legal action materialized.

Rodrick insisted on the shutdown of a homeless encampment in the woods at Winding River Park that had been supported and managed by Destiny's Bridge and its founder, Steve Brigham. The encampment had drawn the attention of law enforcement and agencies for more than a year, with multiple efforts to help people who needed assistance not only in finding permanent housing, but in signing up for other programs — both through the government and through nonprofits — to help them rebuild their lives.

After issuing threats last fall to arrest anyone who stayed in the encampment, Toms River and Rodrick reached an agreement where those living in the woods were provided with at least six months of housing assistance as long as they agreed to leave the encampment, said Jeffrey Wild, an attorney and a trustee for the NJ Coalition to End Homelessness. Wild, who has partnered with Destiny's Bridge at times, represented at no charge some of the woods' residents during the discussions.

Rodrick has blamed both Ocean County officials and the JBJ Soul Kitchen cafe for dumping and drawing more homeless to downtown. Toms River is the county seat, and the downtown area includes the Ocean County Justice Complex, with the jail and the courthouse, the Ocean County administration building and multiple nonprofits that assist people in need.

The county at its April 2 commissioners meeting approved assigning Ocean County sheriff's officers to the library to add security for people coming to use the library.

The area, which is a few blocks from the New Jersey Transit bus terminal just off the Garden State Parkway, has long been an area where homeless people have come because there are public buildings that provide some shelter on days when the weather is bad, from storms to high heat and humidity.

The number of homeless people in Ocean County has grown over the last several years as more people find themselves unable to afford skyrocketing rents; Ocean County was recently cited as having the second-highest average rents in New Jersey.

• Bon Jovi, Wife Push Back On Toms River Mayor's 'Soup Kitchen' Claim
• Ocean County Is 'Dumping' Homeless In Toms River, Creating Safety Issues, Mayor Reiterates