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Mayor Daniel Rodrick called for the special meeting to address township insurance; council members said they had not seen enough details.

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A special meeting of the Toms River Township Council called by Toms River Mayor Daniel Rodrick has been canceled.

The meeting had been scheduled for 4 p.m. Tuesday, according to a notice on the township website posted before Christmas. The meeting was to address "circumstances requiring immediate action regarding property, casualty and liability insurance coverage," according to the public notice of the meeting published Friday in the Asbury Park Press.

The meeting had been called by Mayor Daniel Rodrick, who wanted the council to vote on a potential change in the township's insurance carrier. Rodrick in September announced his plan to shop for other insurance coverage than what Toms River was receiving through the Ocean County Joint Insurance Fund.

Rodrick said at the time the township had saved $6 million in employee health benefits costs by withdrawing from the Central New Jersey Health Insurance Fund — a claim that was challenged by Conner, Strong and Buckelew, the brokers who manage the Central New Jersey Health Insurance Fund.

Rodrick had expressed frustration with the coverage offered to the township by the Ocean County JIF for lawsuits, with $1 million in coverage.

"We believe our coverage limits for lawsuits should be $4 million," he said at the time, adding that the $1 million cap was "limiting our ability to settle" two lawsuits filed against the township under the Hill administration.

In a letter to council members that was shared with Patch, business administrator Jon Salonis said the change would save the township about $500,000, and that the council needed to act to make sure the township was protected until the reorganization meeting, which is set for noon on Thursday.

Justin Lamb, the outgoing Toms River Council president, said Rodrick had not provided the council members with full details on the new proposed insurance coverage.

"No one has cost comparisons," Lamb said Monday by phone. He said the council was not going to have quorum, which forced the cancellation of the meeting.

In addition to Lamb, council members Tom Nivison, Jim Quinlisk and David Ciccozzi were not going to attend.

Nivison, Ciccozzi and Quinlisk issued a statement on Dec. 23 criticizing Rodrick's attempt to call a meeting, calling it "an apparent disregard for the procedural requirements set forth in the Toms River Code, an action that undermines the integrity of the governing process."

They called the special meeting, two days before the reorganization, "a manufactured crisis" and "self-inflicted," saying Rodrick failed to timely take action for the renewal or joining of a new Joint Insurance Fund (JIF).

"The mayor's lack of due diligence to address this crucial issue is incomprehensible and should have been addressed months ago," Nivison said.

"It is deeply troubling that the Mayor failed to do his job; the Mayor has instead demanded a last-minute meeting and has not even provided any information to address the issue," Ciccozzi said.

The Ocean County Joint Insurance Fund agreed to extend the township's coverage into 2026 to allow Toms River time to address the issue.

"This extension, while a temporary relief, serves as a stark reminder of the serious administrative breakdown that created the need for it," the council members said.

The council will have three new faces and will have a shift in power after the reorganization, as Robert Bianchini, Clinton Bradley and Harry Aber join the council. Bianchini and Bradley are allied with Nivison and Ciccozzi, who have opposed many of Rodrick's controversial moves since the summer. Aber joins Lynn O'Toole and Craig Coleman, who have supported Rodrick's many changes in the first two years of his term.

Lamb said the new council should be the ones to make the decision about the insurance, and should be given all the information for a thorough review and decision.

"The new council taking office on January 1 will have ample time to review all options and make the best, most informed decision for the taxpayers of Toms River," Lamb said in an emailed statement.

"This never should have happened," Lamb said. "But when it did, the Council acted responsibly, fixed the issue, and protected the Township. Residents deserve facts — not manufactured crises."

"The citizens of Toms River deserve a government that follows its own rules and manages essential services competently." the statement from Ciccozzi, Nivison and Quinlisk said. "The residents should be concerned about the Mayor’s mishandling of both the special meeting process and the critical municipal JIF matters."

Toms River East junior Ricky DeLorenzo II made a huge leap as a sophomore as he went from a region sixth-placer to a fourth-placer in the state tournament.

Saturday and Sunday’s action in Morristown would tell you he could be primed for more in 2025.

DeLorenzo won the 132-pound title at the Sam Cali Invitational with a 5-2 decision win over Pope John two-time state medalist Dalton Weber. The bout drew a large crowd around the mat and was the last of the night at the Morristown Armory.

Weber, an App State commit, defeated DeLorenzo in a 6-3 decision in the third round at the Beast of the East.

It’s an enormous avenged loss for DeLorenzo, who knows what it could mean later in the year.

“That match meant a lot,” DeLorenzo said. “He’s really funky and I didn’t expect that the first time. He’s pretty long and a good wrestler overall. It was good to get revenge, especially in the finals at the Sam Cali. It’s going to be important in Atlantic City later this year.”

After a scoreless first, Weber chose bottom and DeLorenzo got a four-point turn in the middle of the period to provide the cushion he never surrendered. It was his first trip to the Sam Cali after missing it last year due to injury.

Toms River East head coach Mark Gray saw a lot of things from DeLorenzo that made him a different wrestler in his latest matchup against Weber.

“In that first match, he [Weber] was able to get a score at the end of the first period and when he’s ahead, he’s very hard to get after,” Gray said. “The adjustment this time was being on top and not putting a leg in because he reversed us last time. Ricky kept wrestling. At the Beast of the East, he stopped wrestling. Four or five scrambles could’ve went either way and he kept wrestling this time.”

On his path to the title, DeLorenzo defeated strong competition.

He beat Conor Raveis of Green Farms Academy (CT) by 20-2 technical fall, Paramus’ Dmytro Bohdan by second-period pin (2:58), Delsea senior Greyson Pettit by 11-8 decision, and then Delbarton junior state medalist PJ Terranova by 7-6 decision before the final.

With it, DeLorenzo adds to a long list of impressive wins on the young season.

To take fifth place at the Beast of the East, he defeated two-time state medalist Colton Hagerty by 7-1 decision. In a dual against St. John Vianney on Dec. 12, he beat another two-time state medalist in Matthew Gould.

More valuable matches lie ahead for DeLorenzo as he will wrestle at the Shore Conference Tournament and at many high-profile dual meets, including a home tri vs. St. Joseph (Met.) and Seton Hall Prep in February.

DeLorenzo’s skill set gives him the chance to put together an incredible year in the lead up to the postseason.

“I have to wrestle through every position so I can get my scores in,” DeLorenzo said. “It’s all about getting takedowns and scoring as much points as possible. It’s good to get these tough matches in because it gets you prepared.”

“He can get to the legs and keep pressure well,” Gray added of DeLorenzo. “It’s all about his belief and it’s all mental. If he can believe in himself, he can win a state title.”

Toms River has secured a 10-year affordable housing deal that limits new construction to 186 units while locking in affordability for hundreds of existing apartments, avoiding what officials called a “building boom.”

On Wednesday, the township council approved a settlement with the Fair Share Housing Center that resolves a lawsuit over the municipality’s obligations under New Jersey’s affordable housing rules.

The settlement resolves Toms River’s affordable housing commitment for the next 10 years.

Mayor Dan Rodrick’s administration had challenged the state’s latest calculations, which set housing targets for all 564 municipalities through 2035.

Those figures, released in October 2024, call for more than 146,000 low- and moderate-income units statewide. Toms River was among 160 municipalities contesting the numbers.

Under the settlement, the township will allow construction of 186 new affordable units: 48 at Jamestown Village Apartments, 134 on the Lakewood side of Route 70 West and four from converted office space on Route 37.

The office conversion includes 20 additional market-rate apartments likely to become summer rentals, Rodrick said.

Rodrick praised the settlement as a way to prevent overdevelopment.

To avoid a larger building boom, Toms River will also preserve affordability in existing apartment complexes.

While the township’s initial plan proposed 470 deed restrictions, the final deal requires 448 extensions on current affordable units plus 70 additional deed restrictions, for a total of 518.

A deed restriction is a legal agreement that keeps a property designated as affordable housing for a set period, preventing it from being sold or rented at market rates.

The township will use about $9 million from its affordable housing trust fund to finance these restrictions.

“As many of you know, our town faced a daunting affordable housing demand for 670 units from the State of New Jersey,” Rodrick said to council members.

“We took that challenge head-on with a unique and comprehensive plan that initially submitted 470 new deed restrictions on existing apartments,” he added. “This plan was not just about meeting state requirements; it was about protecting our community from a continuation of the overdevelopment that has plagued our community.”

The settlement also resolves a dispute over the “gap period,” when Fair Share claimed Toms River owed 1,095 extra units. Instead, the township will add 70 deed restrictions to cover that obligation.

Without a deal, Rodrick said, Toms River could have faced requirements for 1,765 affordable units—potentially triggering thousands of market-rate apartments under builders’ remedy lawsuits.

The Fair Share Housing Center praised the outcome, saying it will create new homes and preserve existing ones.

The agreement includes a clause that excludes the Meridia tower project, which remains tied up in separate litigation.

The calculations follow a law Gov. Phil Murphy signed last year in an effort to curtail New Jersey’s affordable housing shortage.

The law standardizes obligations for municipalities throughout the state to build more housing units while further protecting them from lawsuits that aim to stop affordable housing from being built.

Two New Jersey men admitted that they scammed a mortgage lender to obtain a $4.5 million loan by faking the sale of a property with forged and phony documents.

In addition, one of the men also admitted he lied to obtain a $1.8 million loan by lying on government loan applications during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mendel Deutsch, 39, of Toms River, pleaded guilty to one count of bank and wire fraud conspiracy as well as wire fraud, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for New Jersey said.

Joshua Feldberger, 43, of Howell pleaded guilty to bank fraud conspiracy.

In an elaborate scheme, Arthur Spitzer worked with Deutsch and Feldberger to make it appear as if Spitzer owned three properties in Brooklyn, New York.

Deutsch applied and received a $4.5 million mortgage loan for the phony purchase.

Feldberger helped move the fraudulent sale along as the owner of the settlement company that handled the transaction.

Deutsch and Feldberger then forged letters claiming that Deutsch had deposited significant funds into escrow toward the transaction when in reality, he paid nothing, federal prosecutors said.

The pair then drew up more phony paperwork claiming they transferred control of the properties to Spitzer.

Meanwhile, the men falsely told the mortgage lender the settlement company had received more than $2 million from Deutsch at closing. That prompted the mortgage lender to fund the loan.

The pair then used the mortgage loan proceeds to fund Deutsch’s down payment — the same down payment he had claimed to already provide.

The mortgage lender is not named by prosecutors.

Charges against Spitzer are pending.

Spitzer, of Toms River, was charged with eight counts of wire fraud, one count of bank fraud, one count of bank and wire fraud conspiracy, two counts of aggravated identity theft, one count of lying to a bank and 12 counts of money laundering.

Feldberger is scheduled to be sentenced on February 23, 2026 with Deutsch sentencing set for March 16, 2026.

In a separate scam, Deutsch submitted Economic Injury Disaster Loans applications in 2020 and 2021 in which he fabricated the number of people he employed and how much revenue the business generated. He obtained about $1.8 million in loans.

During the pandemic, the government provided loans to small businesses to help keep them afloat.

Toms River’s mayor is suing the school district where he worked for more than 20 years, claiming tenure charges against him are part of a “deeply troubling and unprecedented” campaign of political retaliation.

Daniel Rodrick, an educator and longtime township councilman who became mayor last year, filed the lawsuit in Monmouth County Superior Court last week.

Rodrick’s case claims that his political foes played a role in the Middletown Township Public School district pursuing an internal investigation against him.

“This is about more than my job—this is about protecting taxpayers and standing up to powerful political insiders,” Rodrick said in a statement released by his lawyer, Donald Burke. “When entrenched interests realized they could not intimidate me into silence, they tried to end my career and destroy my reputation. I refuse to back down.”

The mayor claims he was subjected to harassment, which included false disciplinary claims, manipulated teaching evaluations, stalking, defamation and personal files being released.

Rodrick also alleges he was set up for failure when, in 2022, he was reassigned to teaching special education classes for which he was not certified. He continued teaching students in those classes despite opposing the transition with school officials, the lawsuit states.

The mayor has denied the allegations behind the tenure charges, previously calling them a “political witch-hunt” over “good government policies.”

“My message to the people trying to silence me is simple: I will not quit, I will not be intimidated, and I will not stop fighting for taxpayers,” Rodrick’s statement said. “Transparency and accountability are worth defending—no matter the cost.”

The lawsuit names several people and entities, including a former Toms River councilman, several board of education members and the Middletown Township Public School District.

Rodrick’s career with the district began in 2002, as a science instructor at Middletown High School North, the lawsuit states.

He later moved to Thorne Middle School in 2009, where he taught until he was placed on leave before filing the lawsuit.

Since the start of the current school year, he has been serving as an assistant principal at Irvington High School in Essex County.

Middletown Township school officials accused Rodrick of taking personal calls during the school day, according to tenure charges. In one instance, he allegedly left his students unattended for more than 10 minutes.

At least five students requested transfers out of his classes, prompting an internal investigation, NJ Advance Media previously reported.

Rodrick claims the charges were politically motivated, alleging they stemmed from his role as mayor and that the investigation was part of a political scheme.

The seven-count lawsuit names the district and several people, including Superintendent Jessica Alfone, as well as Frank Capone and Jacqueline Tobacco, the board of education’s president and vice president. It also names Kevin Geoghegan, a former township councilman, and Art Gallagher, a former political consultant.

Requests for comment from Alfone, Capone and Tobacco were not immediately answered on Monday. Neither Gallagher nor Geoghegan could immediately be reached for comment.

The lawsuit alleges violations of Rodrick’s civil rights, as well as the Conscientious Employee Protection Act, a New Jersey law that protects employees from reporting illegal or unethical activities in the workplace. It also claims violations of the Open Public Records Act and common laws regarding documents that Rodrick and his lawyer tried to obtain.

The lawsuit seeks damages for Rodrick’s lost wages and legal fees.

Rodrick alleges that false narratives were created against him, leading to tenure charges that stained his “highly effective” education career.

As mayor, he has often openly criticized local spending and government operations. Recently, he failed to have the township council vote to dissolve the local municipal utilities authority, calling it a “patronage pit.”

He also took steps to prevent the Silveron First Aid Squad from operating. Geoghegan was the ambulance squad’s president at the time he was a council member. Rodrick’s administration sued the squad in 2024, claiming it used 24,000 gallons of township-owned gasoline without reimbursing the township.

Gallagher, who was hired by the township for public relations help under former Mayor Maurice “Mo” Hill, was fired after Rodrick took office. Gallagher ran election campaigns for Capone and Tobacco, the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit also alleges Middletown Township schools confirmed Rodrick’s resignation as of Aug. 25, though the mayor argues he never submitted departing paperwork. Therefore, he considers himself still employed by the school district, the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit states Rodrick’s tenure charges are pending before the New Jersey Department of Education, which did not immediately return a request by NJ Advance Media for comment.