Vicari Won't Seek Re-Election To Ocean County Board After 42 Years

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Joseph H. Vicari, who has served on the Ocean County Board of Commissioners since the early 1980s, will not seek re-election and will retire at the end of his term in December 2023.

Vicari, a Republican who will have served on the board for 42 years and is the longest-serving commissioner in New Jersey, announced his decision to retire in a letter to the department heads of Ocean County on Thursday.

"After much soul-searching, today I am announcing that I will not seek re-election to the Ocean County Board of Commissioners," wrote Vicari, who is the director of the board for 2023. "I am forever thankful to the people of Ocean County, who have seen fit to return me to office time and time again since 1981."

"I have worked hard over these nearly five decades to serve the people of Ocean County," he wrote in the letter, first reported by Jersey Shore Online. "I have dedicated much of my life to improving the quality of life of our senior citizens and our younger families alike."

Vicari's announcement comes as he continues to fight a sexual harassment lawsuit that was filed against him in May 2022. The lawsuit filed, in federal court by an employee of the Ocean County Senior Services department, alleges years of harassment.

On Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Freda Wolfson, who was hearing the case, dismissed part of the suit that named Ocean County and two other commissioners — Virginia Haines and Barbara Jo Crea — but denied a motion to dismiss the claims against Vicari.

Vicari's attorney, Albert H. Wunsch III of Englewood Cliffs, has called the allegations "ridiculous" and "patent lies."

A previous lawsuit, filed in 2014 against Ocean County that accused Vicari of enabling sexual harassment of another employee, was settled in 2017 for $550,000 in what officials called a "business deal." Vicari and county officials made no admissions of wrongdoing in the settlement.

Vicari was first elected to public office in 1979, to a seat on the Dover Township Committee. He served there until 1994, including five years as mayor of the township. That was long before Dover Township's name changed to Toms River in 2006, one of many changes in the county since he was elected.

Vicari also briefly announced he would run for governor in 2021, but just as quickly withdrew from the race.

"What hasn't changed is my commitment to bringing our residents the best possible services at the most affordable cost," he wrote.

He also was an educator, working as a teacher and later principal of Veterans Memorial Elementary School in the Brick Township Schools, before becoming superintendent of the Berkeley Township Schools in 2003. He served there until mid-2009, and then from April 2011 to until March 2012.

"Like everyone else, I've seen my share of good times and bad," Vicari wrote. "Some of the worst times for us here in Ocean County were Super Storm Sandy and the COVID-19 pandemic. Our residents came through both disasters with resilience and fortitude. I truly believe Ocean County emerged stronger. "

"The time has come for me to devote more time to my wife of 51 years, Joyce, my children and my two beautiful grandchildren," he wrote. "Anyone who volunteers for public service is often forced to divide their time between that service and their family. That's a concession I'm no longer willing to make."