Toms River Police Staffing Ordinance Set For Valentine's Day Vote

TOMS RIVER, NJ — The controversial Toms River police staffing ordinance has been scheduled for a vote of the Toms River Township Council on Valentine's Day.

Public notices published in the Asbury Park Press and the Star-Ledger of Newark announced the controversial ordinance will have its second reading, public hearing and final vote during a Township Council meeting set for 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 14 in the L. Manuel Hirshblond Meeting Room at Town Hall, 33 Washington St.

The ads, placed in the legal notices sections of both newspapers were published Wednesday, Feb. 7.

The 2 p.m. meeting time falls in the middle of the workday. In addition to Feb. 14 being Valentine's Day, it also is Ash Wednesday.

Messages have been sent to Mayor Daniel Rodrick, along with emails to Council President Craig Coleman and Assistant Township Attorney Peter S. Pascarella, whose name was on some of the notices, requesting comment on the choice of the meeting time.

In all, there were 14 notices about ordinances published in the two papers. In addition to the police staffing ordinance, the council is scheduled to vote on the following ordinances:

• To eliminate adoption fees for the Toms River Animal Shelter;
• To eliminate the Department of Public Works and split it up, with the Division of Roads and Sanitation going under the Department of Administration, and the Division of Parks, Buildings and Grounds moving to the Department of Recreation;
• To create a Division of Zoning, Planning and Property Maintenance under section 48-6 of the township code and repeal section 48-8, which was the Division of Code Enforcement;
• To place stop signs at the intersection of Yorktowne and Mount Carmel boulevards in Holiday City at Silverton;
• To place stop signs at the intersection of Hickory Hill Road and Harbor View Lane in the Green Island section;
• To reduce the speed limit to 25 mph the entire length of Hovsons Boulevard;
• And to reduce the speed limit to 25 mph the entire length of Yorktowne Boulevard.

While the ordinances were announced, there was not a notice specifically announcing the Township Council meeting, which would be a special meeting as it was not among the original meeting dates approved by the council at the January reorganization meeting.

The ordinance notices were the first information about a new date for the township council meeting, which was anticipated after the council's attempt to meet by Zoom on Jan. 31 ended when an antisemitic commenter hijacked the meeting.

The meeting had been moved to Zoom for what Council President Craig Coleman said was for the safety of the participants and because the anticipated attendance was expected to exceed the capacity of the L. Manuel Hirschblond Meeting Room because of the uproar over the police staffing ordinance. Read more: Antisemitic Commenter Forces End To Chaotic Toms River Zoom Meeting

As the Zoom meeting — which had a capacity of 500 participants and filled up, preventing Councilman George Lobman from joining — ended after 35 minutes, Councilman David Ciccozzi urged Coleman to reconsider holding the meeting in person, because the Zoom meeting had gone so badly.

"It's not going to go well if we have people banging on tables," Coleman said in rejecting Ciccozzi's request.

The controversy over the police staffing ordinance has led efforts for a recall petition that, if successful, would force the council to rescind the ordinance or put it to a public referendum. Read more: Police Staffing Controversy Sparks Recall Petition In Toms River