Brick Councilman Switches Parties As Feud Gets Personal

BRICK, NJ — Brick Township Councilman Jim Fozman has announced he is switching political parties, cutting ties with the Democrats over what he says is an ongoing lack of transparency on the township's governing body.

In a statement at the end of Tuesday's Township Council meeting, Fozman criticiized Mayor John Ducey and the rest of the council, saying, "For the past 2½ years as it became increasingly evident that my colleagues moved further to the left, and aligned their philosophies with those of the Hillary Clinton Democrats. I represent the residents of Brick, not the political views of the mayor, council or the political advisors. My values and principles are shared with the people of Brick, and have always been fiscally and socially conservative, and more in line with the Republican Party."

He additionally took Ducey and the council to task, saying council committee meetings — where a small part of the council meets to discuss township business — have been held far more rarely and information not fully shared.

"In past years when I was the chair of Business and Finance, I held meetings prior to each council meeting," Fozman said. "The minutes of those meetings were made available to all my council colleagues, so they could be fiscally well informed."

He also said he has been told he is no longer welcome at meetings of the Brick Democratic Party because his politics are no longer in alignment with the municipal committee.

"The Democratic Party is clear that there is no room for a Conservative Democrat, and I refuse to be part of the progressive liberal agenda they embrace, which is so contrary to what the residents of Brick deserve," Fozman said, noting that he would be making the party switch soon.

On Wednesday, Ducey fired back in a statement emailed to media members:

"(Fozman) states that he is switching because there is a lack of transparency despite the fact that I appear whenever and wherever invited to speak and answer all questions posed," Ducey wrote. "Also twice a month there are Facebook Live sessions where residents ask me whatever questions and they are answered fully and completely. Other mayors call me crazy for allowing this type of transparency but residents love it and take advantage of it."

"He then claims that he is switching because he wants to go to the party that is more fiscally conservative. This is a complete joke as my record of spending over my 5 years as mayor has the lowest increase in the history of Brick Township. Spending has increased 3.1 percent over the five years, whereas the previous five-year growths were 25.4 percent ('09-'13); 25.4 percent ('04-08); 36.3 percent ('99-'03) and 19.2 percent ('94-'98)," Ducey wrote.

Fozman and Ducey were running mates when they both were first elcted to the Township Council in 2011, when the Democrats took control of the council by winning four seats from the Republicans. Ducey ran for mayor in 2013 and defeated Joseph Sangiovanni. There did not appear to be any conflict during Ducey's first term as mayor.

Fozman and Ducey were in opposite camps, however, during the 2017 gubernatorial campaign. Fozman's wife Vera was the campaign treasurer for the campaign of former state Assembly Speaker John Wisniewski, who ran for the Democratic nomination but lost the Democratic primary to Gov. Phil Murphy. Wisniewski also served as the NJ Bernie Sanders presidential campaign chairman. Ducey, meanwhile, was supporter of Murphy, who swore Ducey into his second term as Brick mayor in January as governor-elect.

That difference did not appear to be meaningful until June, when the split between Fozman and Ducey first became public.

Following the Democratic primary, Fozman and Ducey both sought to lead the Democratic Municipal Committee. Fozman openly objected to Ducey running for chair of the municipal committee while serving as mayor. The municipal committee is the organization of Democrats within the township. It is a separate entity from the governing body. Ducey was elected by a wide margin during the committee vote.

Since then, the split has continued to widen and has been on display at the council meetings, with Fozman criticizing a move to put time limits on parking at Traders Cove Marina and Park — where Fozman railed about the signs being erected before the ordinance had been approved — to other disagreements over more minor issues.

The criticisms have become increasingly personal, however. Two weeks ago, Fozman voted no on approving payment for Township Attorney Kevin Starkey's bill for services, because Starkey had refused to help him draft an ordinance regarding plastic bags, which Fozman said would put the town ahead of the curve if Murphy approves a charge on plastic bags. Fozman said he felt the refusal was personal.

Wednesday, however, the barbs got very personal.

Ducey accused Fozman of leaving the party because Ducey would not appoint him as director of the township's Department of Public Works.

"I denied his request and told him that we would never hire a sitting councilman or family member to a township job, as that is blatantly against what we stand for," Ducey wrote. "It is clear that Fozman wants a taxpayer-funded job and the door for that was shut. He now joins the Brick Republicans who are well known for providing jobs to elected officials and family members as a matter of course. ... Fozman obviously wants to join that gravy train. The Brick Democrats do things differently. We do things the right way and Fozman does not share our values of good governance so I am relieved that he no longer represents our party.

"I am retired and have been collecting Social Security for five years," Fozman said. "Everyone in politics knows it would not be legal to hire a sitting councilman at the township. If Ducey and his political advisors were going to make up lies, they should at least make up one that makes sense."

"Regarding his claim of not hiring family or friends, he made sure to hire his brother-in-law as a public defender, and the business administrator's son at the DPW," Fozman said.

Fozman's announcement Tuesday was foreshadowed by his weekend endorsement of Republican candidate Bob Hugin in the U.S. Senate race against incumbent Robert Menendez. Fozman's endorsement of Hugin drew a comment Tuesday night from Toms River Councilman Dan Rodrick, who himself switched from the Democratic Party to the Republicans in July following Murphy's signing of S2, the bill that strips millions of dollars in adjustment aid from school districts including Toms River and Brick.

Photos of John Ducey and Jim Fozman via Township of Brick municipal Facebook page