Toms River GOP war: 4 candidates seek mayor's seat in June primary

TOMS RIVER -- Toms River's ongoing Republican battle will play out in the June 6 primary, with two slates of candidates challenging Mayor Maurice B. Hill Jr. and three township councilmen for the opportunity to be the GOP's standard-bearers in November.

Hill and his running mates, councilmen Kevin M. Geoghegan, Josh Kopp and Matt Lotano, will have the coveted GOP party line on the ballot. They were endorsed in February by Republicans for Toms River, which maintained its status as the township's official GOP organization after winning a close vote at the county Republican convention earlier this month.

They will be challenged by the "Save Toms River" team, a slate headed by Councilman Daniel Rodrick, who is running with Tom Nivison, owner of Silverton Farms; Lynn O'Toole, president of adult community Holiday City Silverton Phase II, and longtime educator Craig Coleman, former principal of Ocean County Vocational-Technical School.

Another slate is headed by mayoral candidate Geri Ambrosio, former president of the Toms River Regular Republican Club, who works in the Berkeley Township Tax Assessor's Office. Ambrosio's running mates include former Assistant Township Attorney R. Garry Mundy, Norvella "Pug" Lightbody, widow of former Mayor Roden S. Lightbody and secretary on the township Parking Authority's Board of Commissioners, and Sergio Fossa, a staff pastor and elder at Grace Bible Church in Wall.

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Ambrosio's slate was endorsed last month by the the Regular Republican Club.

Also seeking the mayor's seat in the GOP primary is Robert Bianchini, an engineer and director of capital projects and public facilities for Asbury Park's Public Works Department.

March 27 was the filing deadline for candidates competing in the June primary.

Rodrick, a long-time critic of Hill's administration who has frequently been at odds with his fellow council members, lost no time in attacking Hill in a press statement announcing his candidacy.

"Mayor Hill is destroying Toms River," Rodrick said. He noted he had voted against a controversial redevelopment proposal that would include construction of two, 10-story apartment towers at the corner of Main and Water streets. Controverisal downtown development plans seem likely to be a major issue in the upcoming campaign.

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"Toms River is in big trouble," Rodrick said. "Taxes are out of control, and high-density, multifamily development continues to reshape our town. As homes are converted into houses of worship, quiet residential neighborhoods are being transformed into busy commercial streets. These changes are having a disastrous impact on taxes, traffic, quality of life, and our schools."

Hill said earlier this month that he believes he and the council "have a strong record" which includes preserving about 50 acres of open space and producing three straight budgets that have had no municipal tax rate increase, including the 2023 budget the council introduced last week. That budget was introduced by a 5 to 2 vote, with Rodrick and Councilman Justin Lamb voting against it.

Ambrosio and her slate chose to run even though the Regular Republican Club lost its battle to be recertified as Toms River's official GOP organization. That means they will have to run off the party line, as will Rodrick and his slate and Bianchini.

She said earlier this month that while Hill is "not a bad person, he is not a leader."

"I am launching my campaign with this promise," Ambrosio said. "As the next mayor of Toms River, I will fight relentlessly to save Toms River from the corruption in town hall and the rampant over-development eroding our town."

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This will be the third straight contested GOP primary in Toms River. In 2019, Hill, who was first elected to the council in 2003, defeated Rodrick and former Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato in a three-way primary even though Coronato had the the party line.

In 2021, Rodrick and Lamb won council seats running off the line.

Democrats' slate

On the Democrats' side, former Township Committeeman John Furey, a chiropractor, is seeking the mayor's seat. Furey is running on a slate with Toms River Regional Board of Education member Michelle Williams, Kajal Lal and Rhetta Jackson-Fair, a pastor at True Vine Ministries in Berkeley's Bayville section. Furey and his slate were endorsed by Toms River's Democratic organization.

Also seeking a council seat as a Democrat -- but running on his own -- is Paul Williams.

Jean Mikle covers Toms River and several other Ocean County towns, and has been writing about local government and politics at the Jersey Shore for nearly 38 years. She's also passionate about the Shore's storied music scene. Contact her: @jeanmikle,  jmikle@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: NJ elections: Republicans battle for Toms River control