Rodrick's appointments of Democrats causes previous threat to GOP to resurface
Mayor Dan Rodrick's previous threat towards Republicans who work with Democrats forces him to look in the mirror.
Toms River - Mayor Dan Rodrick is making good on several of his pre and post- election promises at breakneck speed and without any interference from the public. This includes, among other things, uniting Democrats and Republicans and punishing those who did not support him.
During the June 14, 2023 Toms River Council meeting, which was the first meeting immediately following his victory in the Republican primary, Rodrick issued a very bold threat to those who opposed him.
His warning began with a brief statement about uniting the Republican clubs then segued into a chilling Orwellian warning:
"If there are Republicans out there who believe that they are going to secretly support the Democrats this year, they should know the Democrats will lose and we will know about it and you will not be welcome back into the fold."
Rodrick's cocksure confidence was not unfounded as he won a landslide victory in the November general election. In fact, the entire GOP slate of candidates won by epic proportions, no doubt in response to the electorate's dissatisfaction with Governor Murphy and President Biden. Even Rodrick's running mates - Tom Nivison, Craig Coleman, and Lynne O’Toole - neither of whom have any municipal government experience, won handily.
Rodrick began his scorched earth plan to re-imagine Toms River Township at the January 1, reorganization meeting. He fired a number of mid and upper-level employees, who did not pledge their allegiance to him. One of those who openly supported Ben Giovine, and wished to remain anonymous at this time, reportedly solicited Republican voters for Giovine by saying that, for the good of the Township, it's better to have a Democrat Mayor, who gets elected as a Democrat Mayor than a RINO like Rodrick. They added that Giovine is a Toms River guy and a person of good character who cares about Toms River.
How could Rodrick bring Democrat and Republicans together? It sounds like a daunting task indeed, but not for the always-campaigning Rodrick.
To accomplish this, the former Democrat returned to his political and ideological left-wing roots and tapped Democrat operatives Mitch Siem and John Salonis to six figure Township jobs. Solanis, who Rodrick often and openly refers to as his closest and most trusted ally, was hired as Director of Recreation, a department which is primed to expand its control to include divisions in the Public Works Department.
Insiders believe that Rodrick is rapidly dismantling established Departments in town hall to provide lucrative private contracts for his political contributors. Solanis has been a ruthless behind-the-scenes political advisor to Rodrick. Employing left wing campaign strategies just like those employed on the national level, he has thrived. His greatest success was in 2017 when he master minded the campaigns of four Democratic council ward candidates. That Rodrick (then-Democrat) slate came within 200 votes of sweeping the four council ward seats. Only Republican incumbent Maria Maruca retained her Ward 1 council seat, thus stonewalling the power-hungry Rodrick's Democratic takeover of Toms River. Maruca who was hired in 2022 as Director of Human services, was fired on January and replaced by Rodrick's very close friend Laura Picurro.
Enter Mitch Siem, a long-time Democrat campaign strategist.
Siem, who was approached by the Ben Giovine team to assist in their failed run last November, did not wish to be involved in their campaign, ostensibly to devote all of his attention to the Brick Mayoral race. Interestingly enough, Rodrick, as evidenced by his involvement in the most recent Jackson Township Mayoral race and Toms River School Board elections, opted to not support to the Brick Township Republican Candidate for Mayor, former state assemblyman John Catalano.
The inactions of both Rodrick and Siem, neither of whom provided their typical support for their party's candidates in neighboring towns, puzzled the political leaders of both parties. Insider NJ listed Siem on its Power 100 list, noting that the “longtime veteran operator scored keys this year in Toms River and Brick as well as LD-11.” The winners of said races were two Democrats - including the far-left Gopal, the architect of the ghastly sex-ed curriculum - and Mayor Rodrick.
Rodrick later hired Siem to a high paid Township job in the Finance Department. According to several eyewitness accounts who spoke with CJN, the extremely qualified employee replaced by Siem, who held a NJ Certified Municipal Finance Officer certification, was fired without notice or due process by Rodrick himself. At this time, it is unclear as to whether Siem has or is pursuing that certification. Once Siem achieves the CMFO certification, some fear it undoubtedly marks the end of current CMFO and CPA Judith Tutela's employment with the Township.
Rodrick also replaced long time insurance broker and Toms River business Connor Strong et-al, with Fairview Insurance Associates, an Essex County firm. Fairview holds extremely lucrative government contracts in numerous Democrat-run cities, including Rodrick's hometown of Jersey City. Insiders report that Siem has been a longtime advocate of Fairview, who makes large campaign contributions to Democrat candidates throughout the urban districts of New Jersey. It's becoming apparent that former Democrat Rodrick has determined that returning to his Democrat roots is a personally lucrative opportunity that he can't resist.
Rodrick has consistently been a staunch and vocal opponent of confidential hires. In blatant disregard of his public position against "back room" patronage jobs. In an act of brazen contradiction, none of the patronage jobs Rodrick rewarded his allies with, were publicly advertised.
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