Toms River Mayoral Race: Maurice 'Mo' Hill

TOMS RIVER, NJ — As Election Day 2019 nears, Patch is sharing profiles of the candidates for local office.

Here is the profile of Maurice "Mo" Hill, the Republican candidate for Toms River mayor. He is facing Democrat Jonathan Petro (whose profile is here). The answers below are presented as received with only punctuation and capitalization changes.

The two candidates are facing off in a debate Thursday, Oct. 24. It will be televised and you will be able to watch replays. Information on the debate can be found here.

Maurice "Mo" Hill Jr.

Age: 72

Employment: Retired dentist. Retired in 2017 after having a private practice in Brick, NJ for over 41 years

Tell us about your public service (township boards, committees you sit on):

Member of the Board of Trustees, RWJBarnabas Community Medical Center; Member of the Ocean County Board of Health; Commissioner, South Jersey Transportation Authority; Parishioner and Eucharistic Minister, St. Luke Roman Catholic Church, Toms River, NJ

Any previous elected office (council, school board, etc)? How many years have you served?

Councilman Ward 3- 2 terms (8 years); Councilman-at-Large- 2 terms (8 years)

What conflicts would you have (what won't you be able to vote on) if elected?

I have been advised by our Township Attorney that I do not have any conflicts but out of an abundance of caution I abstain from Toms River Board of Education votes as my 43-year-old married daughter is a teacher and has been married since 2004 and has her own home and family but I still recuse myself out of caution. I also recuse myself on votes on bills for Terry Brady, Esq., as he represented me in a small claim case against a patient over 30 years ago and Owen, Little, Assoc. as they did an engineering right-of-way for my building partnership over 20 years ago. I have not had a business relationship with either Mr. Brady or Owen, Little Assoc. since that time and could vote but don’t out of caution.

Tell us about the most important thing you do that has nothing to do with politics or your employment:

Being a husband, father and grandfather. Family is first always. My military career in the Navy for over 35 years, retiring as a rear admiral (upper half- O8). It is the highest permanent rank a military officer can achieve in our armed services. I was the deputy chief of the Navy Dental Corps when I retired.

What will you do if you are elected mayor?

I believe I have the experience, knowledge and leadership skills to lead Toms River into the future and will represent all the residents of Toms River without regard to ethnicity, race or religion. I will have an open-door policy for any resident and plan on having monthly Meet the Mayor open forums.

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