TOMS RIVER – A public fight between two local leaders reached the next stage as one party has retained an attorney.
Dueling press releases by Mayor Daniel Rodrick and Superintendent Michael Citta have been sent to newspapers like this one, and speeches are being made at public meetings.
An attorney recently hired by the Toms River Board of Education, Patrick Toscano, told NJ101.5 that if the mayor doesn’t stop his attacks, then a lawsuit might be filed for defamation.
“We’re hoping that the mayor, within the next 180 days, just backs off and allows our client to act as superintendent. But if he doesn’t, then we’re placing him and Toms River on notice that a lawsuit is going to be filed. It’s that simple,” Toscano told the radio station.
An attempt to reach Toscano by this newspaper was unsuccessful at press time.
How Did We Get Here?
One of the first steps along this path was the October Board of Education agenda where there was a raise for Citta. The raise would bring his salary from $228,159 to $275,000 for this year, and to $308,012 by the 2029-30 school year.
There was public backlash to this agenda item as the district has had budget challenges due to the state cutting millions of dollars in aid. The meeting was ultimately cancelled. His raise was not on the November or December meetings.
Rodrick said the raise was “outrageous” and blamed Citta for some of the district’s financial woes. He called on Citta to resign.
“Toms River residents are being crushed by out-of-control school taxes,” Rodrick said. “What are we getting for this massive increase in spending? Disturbingly very little.”
“The superintendent’s focus should be on improving our schools, not on spreading false aspersions or pushing for a pay raise that most taxpayers would find indefensible,” he said.
Citta responded with a lengthy letter showing the district’s accomplishments despite the state aid cuts.
He also noted how the process that ultimately led to his hiring a few years ago became a public spectacle, as people outside the board had tried to influence the decision. In particular, he accused Rodrick of creating political propaganda against him back then as well.
Citta also said that when Toms River was looking to bring Seaside Heights into the district (which would have brought in Seaside’s school taxes and helped with the Toms River district’s budget), he asked Rodrick for support. According to Citta, Rodrick told him the town “didn’t want those kids,” and that it would be easy to remove Board members and the superintendent once the mayor got a majority on the board.
Citta also outlined why the raise was proposed. It included taking a pay cut in 2010 when he went from assistant superintendent to principal during a previous state aid reduction. When chosen as superintendent, his pay was 185th in the state, despite leading the 6th largest district. He had frozen his salary for four years, while taking on additional duties while administration was cut.
“Administrative restructuring I implemented saves $1.3 million annually – more than covering the marketplace adjustment,” he said.
Citta further went on to discuss how tax increases didn’t come from additional spending, but because the district lost millions of dollars from the state.
Soon after, Justin and Ashley Lamb charged into the fray. Justin is the outgoing Council President and Ashley is the School Board President. The married couple used to have stronger ties to Rodrick, but they have distanced themselves from him recently.
“Under Superintendent Citta’s leadership, the district has taken deliberate, data-driven steps to improve both educational services and fiscal responsibility,” Justin Lamb said. “One notable example is the recent call by Superintendent Citta to form a centralized special education plan, a pragmatic reform with significant upside potential for students and taxpayers alike.
“Special education services are among the most complex – and costly – obligations facing any school district. Fragmented delivery models can lead to inconsistent programming, inefficiencies, and increased reliance on expensive out-of-district placements. Superintendent Citta’s centralized approach is designed to address those challenges by better aligning resources, improving coordination, and delivering appropriate services closer to home whenever possible,” he said.
“Unfortunately, instead of constructive engagement, Mayor Rodrick’s attack appears rooted in professional envy and political positioning in an attempt to manufacture controversy where none exists,” he said.
Multiple news sources are reporting on this even though the squabble hasn’t actively impacted residents yet. The Asbury Park Press reported that the district sent a letter threatening legal action against Mayor Rodrick for what they said was “unnecessary and intentional meddling with Superintendent Citta’s statutory authority to administer the district.”
The accusations of meddling have to do with two board members that are being accused of being directed by the mayor. Maria Matarazzo, who works for the town, and Paola Pascarella, whose stepson is the assistant township attorney.
Rodrick said that these board members are free to do what they want. Similarly, it’s within his rights to say his opinion. In fact, it’s the First Amendment. If he doesn’t like the way the district is heading, he is free to do so. Matarazzo and Pascarella can make up their own minds.
The district tried to invoke a Doctrine of Necessity, which would allow school board members who have to abstain on something not to be counted in a vote tally. In this case, there are nine board members. The board members have an assumption that Matarazzo and Pascarella would vote against the raise. Normally, they would be outvoted 7-2 and the raise would pass.
However, three other board members have family members working for the district, so they aren’t allowed to vote on their family member’s boss’ contract. Going into the vote, that’s three abstentions out of nine. That reduces it to 4-2, which is not enough of a majority for a contract. It would have to be 5.
The Doctrine of Necessity would make it so that only the six remaining would be calculated for a majority. That means that the 4-2 vote would pass and get Citta his raise.
The Patch published a letter from the NJ Department of Education School Ethics Commission summing up information but without naming names. It states that the mayor and an ally contacted Board members giving their opinion about the contract. The Ethics Commission said that this, by itself, is not enough to assume they are conflicted.
This finally brings us to the most recent Board of Education meeting, in which Citta took to the podium to address the conflict. Rodrick and Township Business Administrator Jon Salonis were in the audience.
Citta said he was hired to keep politics out of the schools.
“We don’t have a failing district, Mr. Rodrick, we have success stories,” he said.
“You want to talk about facts you can’t comprehend,” he said. “I will not cower to the politicians that are meddling in this district.”
During the meeting, the auditor made a report. This is an annual event when an outside company is hired to make sure everything is being done according to state guidelines. The auditor had no opinions to change the way the district did business.
Board President Ashley Lamb asked if they saw any wasteful spending or fraud while doing the audit, and they said no.
During the portion of the meeting when Board members could speak about anything they want, member Paola Pascarella described a litany of issues with the district. She spoke off the cuff about individual students’ discipline problems (without naming them). She painted a picture of a district that is failing parents.
“We need an administration who responds to the public,” she said.
Then she appeared to read off her phone asking for a vote of No Confidence in Citta.
A No Confidence vote is simply a public statement that the Board majority doesn’t approve of his leadership. There’s nothing legally binding that comes of it.
Pascarella’s motion wasn’t seconded, so it didn’t go to a vote.
Board Member Lisa Contessa called for a vote on Pascarella being removed, which is not something the Board can do, so that motion also didn’t go anywhere.
Ashley Lamb then spoke, also off the cuff, telling a story about getting a call from Rodrick in the beginning of the year when she was being selected as Board President. She said he told her that “if I wanted to be the president of the board of education, I should have just called him and asked him for it.”
She then directed her comments to Rodrick in the audience. “Now I have no idea why I should have to call you and ask you for anything that has to do with this district because you don’t work here and you don’t run it and you don’t own it and you should get your own house in order.”
“You think you can make up anything you want. You write ridiculous press releases,” she added. She also accused him of writing to the state ethics commission, and putting Matarazzo and Pascarella names to it.
Scott Campbell, the president of the teachers’ union, spoke in support of Citta. He said that he tells his teachers to just close your doors and teach, and leave all the politics and chaos outside.
After the meeting, The Toms River Times reached out to Mayor Rodrick for comment.
“This is just another political stunt to distract attention from Mr. Citta’s demand for an $80,000 dollar raise and a $308,000 salary,” Rodrick said. “School taxes are out of control, and our standardized test scores are in the toilet. Mr. Citta shouldn’t be given a raise; he should be shown the door.”
Regarding the lawsuit, he said “I have a constitutional right to criticize this outrageous raise. There is no case here. Mr. Toscano doesn’t even specialize in this area of law. He is Justin Lamb’s employment lawyer who represented Lamb when the prosecutor was investigating him for stealing time in Lavallette. Ashley Lamb’s vote to appoint Toscano was another ethical violation, as she has a clear conflict of interest.”
