Coronato Rips Rodrick Toms River Campaign Ad 'Newspaper'

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Glossy placards and flyers have been pouring into Toms River mailboxes ahead of the Toms River Republican mayoral primary, with claims and counterclaims in the heated race.

But campaign ad designed to look like a newspaper that was mailed to homes ahead of Tuesday's primary has one candidate crying foul.

Former Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph Coronato, who is seeking the GOP nomination for mayor in a three-way race against Toms River Councilmen Daniel Rodrick and Maurice "Mo" Hill, delivered a robocall to Toms River voters Thursday decrying the ad designed like a tabloid newspaper as "fake news" and "election fraud."

Email and text messages to Rodrick requesting a response to Coronato's accusations were not answered.

Titled the "Toms River Tribune," it was delivered to homes in Toms River on Thursday and contains stories promoting Rodrick's campaign and repeating previous campaign claims against Hill and Coronato, with particular emphasis on blaming Coronato for a state program that granted amnesty in connection with Medicaid fraud and accusing him of planning a massive residential development for the Ciba-Geigy site.

The back page of the 12-page tabloid ad is a full-page ad promoting Rodrick and his running mates, highlighting Rodrick's main campaign points.

What's not immediately apparent glancing through the advertisement — which contains "news" about the Lakewood BlueClaws, the community garden at Riverwood Park, and a few other non-political stories — is who's paying for it.

Under state law, campaign advertising must include a disclaimer saying who paid for the advertising, including the name and address of the entity paying for the ad. The law does not define how noticeable the disclaimer must be.

The tabloid ad does include the disclaimer, but it's in very small white type on the red background beneath the "SaveTomsRiver.com" website address. It reads: "Paid for Rodrick Team, 1400 Sequoia Road, Toms River, NJ 08753 Please note that the content throughout this newspaper is a paid political message."

In the robocall, Coronato termed the material "election fraud."

"Today, many of you received a fake newspaper in the mail called the Toms River Tribune. Please be aware - this is NOT a real newspaper. It is 100 percent FAKE news being paid for by Democrat Dan Rodrick, a known liar who is currently being sued for defamation in Superior Court for his despicable campaign tactics. Rodrick is a liberal Democrat who endorsed Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton and Phil Murphy, but now switched parties to hijack our Republican Party. Don't let him get away with it."

The tabloid ad in particular highlights Rodrick's claim that Coronato, in concert with former Ocean County Republican Chairman George Gilmore, is working to put a 6,400-home "city within a city" on the Ciba-Geigy site. That claim, put forward on a website that pretends to be a news site, sparked significant concerns from residents who remember the childhood cancer cluster of the 1990s.

Toms River Mayor Thomas Kelaher, who is retiring at the end of his term in December, blasted Rodrick over the claims, calling them "unscrupulous and exploitive."

Rodrick has insisted an email exchange between himself and Business Administrator Don Guardian, where Guardian said he "connected Morris with BASF," along with language in the township's master plan, is proof that plans are in the works.

At the Toms River council meeting Tuesday, Rodrick was rebuked by his fellow council members after twice yelling over other speakers to press his point on the Ciba-Geigy issue.

The amnesty program that permitted Lakewood residents to apply to repay Medicaid and food stamp benefits they received but weren't entitled to have, was started and operated by then-state Comptroller Phillip James Degnan. The program arose in the wake of the arrests of two dozen Orthodox Jewish men and women in 2017 on charges of benefits fraud.

The program, which was not open to those who were under prosecution, was controversial at the time it was announced as many area residents perceived it as being overly favorable to those who committed fraud. Lakewood Jewish leaders have said confusion led to people applying for benefits they were not entitled to receive.

The anger was ramped up when reporting by the Asbury Park Press revealed someone at the state level had agreed to accept reduced repayments of benefits that were not received legitimately.

Rodrick also targeted Hill in the tabloid, highlighting what he called an "endorsement" of Hill by Scott Gartner, an advocate for a Lakewood Orthodox Jewish organization that Rodrick notes threatened to sue the township over its 10-acre ordinance requirement for houses of worship. Toms River paid out $122,500 after it was sued by the Chabad Jewish Center on Church Road, accused of religious discrimination over zoning issues; central to that lawsuit was a claim of a "rising tide of anti-Semitism" in the township.

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