Special Meeting Of Toms River Council Canceled As Members Refuse To Participate

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 property and casualty 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.

Rodrick called it "an old and tired excuse."

"They refused to return calls and declined invitations to meet and conference on this matter. The opportunity to engage was there, and it was ignored," he said.

"We had a terrific opportunity to significantly reduce costs by moving our property and casualty insurance coverage from the Ocean County Joint Insurance Fund to the New Jersey JIF," he said, saying the cost savings would have been nearly $1.5 million total over the next three years.

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.

Rodrick said political influence played a role, alleging Ocean County Republican Chairman George Gilmore of pulling strings.

"Mr. Gilmore has business relationships with influential political figures, including George Norcross, and maintains close ties with Joe Buckelew," Rodrick said in a written statement. "Mr. George Norcross and Mr. Buckelew are principals of PERMA, the company that manages Ocean County JIF along with most JIFs and HIFs in New Jersey. This arrangement has effectively created a virtual monopoly."

Rodrick also pointed to a report by Acting New Jersey Comptroller Kevin D. Walsh in September that said PERMA and Conner Strong & Buckelew had taken over health insurance coverage for hundreds of New Jersey school districts and local governments, creating what was essentially "a private, for-profit company, in violation of conflict-of-interest rules and public contracting laws designed to prevent corruption and safeguard funds."

"They present themselves as separate and independent companies, but (the Office of the State Comptroller) found that CSB and PERMA are effectively the same business operating under two names. Their employees overlap, they share leadership, and the same people work on both sides of the contracts," the comptroller's office said in the report. "In many cases, CSB and PERMA help write the rules for how a contract will be awarded — and then compete for and win that same contract. These are classic examples of conflicts of interest, in which a company both influences the decision-making process and stands to benefit from it by steering the contract to itself."

Lamb, who Rodrick again accused of doing Gilmore's bidding, said the discussion of the JIF should not have been days before the end of the year.

"This never should have happened," Lamb said. "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."