TOMS RIVER – The Committee To Recall Mayor Daniel Rodrick fell short of its goal to collect enough signatures, and the mayor said a private investigator he hired proved they were never close to this figure.
The recall committee had the task of collecting 18,464 signatures. This number comes from the state law that says it has to be at least 25% of the total registered voters. If they had succeeded, they would have caused a recall election.
The state law makes it difficult for recalls to take place, because otherwise people would try to have one after every election.
They had 160 days from the date that they started the recall effort, which was August 19, 2025. They reported collecting 16,963 signatures on 3,590 petition pages.
These signatures were unverified, meaning that they still had to be vetted to determine that they were Toms River registered voters.
In a letter to the township clerk that was shared with the media, the recall committee called the signatures “an extraordinary level of participation by the voters of Toms River.”
“From the outset of this effort, the Committee publicly committed that if the required minimum number of signatures was not achieved, the petitions would not be submitted for filing. This commitment was made to protect the residents who signed, and those who wished to sign but expressed legitimate concern about potential political retaliation or retribution. Unfortunately, fear of reprisal has become a real and reasonable concern under the current administration. The Committee will honor its promise. Accordingly, no petition pages will be filed with your office, and no request for verification or certification is being made,” they said.
“Although the statutory threshold was not met, the outcome of this effort must not be misinterpreted as satisfaction with the current administration or support for Mayor Daniel Rodrick. Nearly 17,000 residents in Toms River – more than the number of votes Mayor Rodrick received when elected in 2023 – signed a petition seeking a special election and his removal from office.
“We also recognize the many residents who chose not to sign – not because they support Mayor Rodrick – but because they feared retaliation, harassment, or targeting. Their hesitation speaks volumes about the current political climate in our township.”
The committee urged residents to get out to vote in the next mayoral election in 2027.
Resident Phil Brilliant often speaks on behalf of the recall committee, which is also endorsed by the four Township Council members who oppose Rodrick on most votes: David Ciccozzi, Thomas Nivison, Clinton Bradley and Robert Bianchini.
Rodrick responded with a letter to members of the Toms River Republican Party, which was also shared with media.
“For months, we’ve heard wild claims about a recall effort against my administration, with organizers saying they were close to 17,000 signatures. Let me be clear: this effort was a hoax from the start. They never came close to that number.
“To get the facts, I hired and personally paid for a private investigator to attend every signing event. His findings were clear: almost no one showed up. The organizers were so desperate that they allowed the investigator to sign for people who weren’t present at every location – which is illegal.
“There is video evidence of recall committee members admitting they were nowhere near that number of signatures. If they had 17,000, they would have had to visit nearly every other house in Toms River. But no one came to your door or mine.
“This recall was only meant to discredit my administration and create the false impression that we lack public support,” he said. “The facts speak for themselves. My administration has done what no other governing body has done in New Jersey. We reduced the municipal budget by 9%, cutting $11 million in wasteful spending annually. We paid down millions in debt. We stopped 10-story towers and repealed zoning plans for a city of high-rise apartments downtown.
“We also achieved a major victory over the State of New Jersey on affordable housing by reducing our new construction requirement to just 184 units, using creative deed restrictions and $9 million from our trust fund – money that would have otherwise been seized by the state..
“As promised, we eliminated the burdensome certificate of occupancy ordinance that was preventing residents from selling their homes. We cut red tape, stopped overdevelopment, and have kept taxes flat every year I’ve been in office. Our next budget will also have a flat tax.
“It is because of these successes that we are under attack – from the liberal media and so-called Republicans from the prior administration who want to regain power. They raised taxes, filled our town with high numbers of affordable housing, and wanted a city of high-rise apartments downtown.
“This entire recall has been a hoax, perpetrated to delegitimize our accomplishments and our conservative record,” he said.
