Can Toms River mayor be beaten on animal shelter takeover? Petitioners think so

TOMS RIVER - Residents are collecting signatures on a petition that aims to stop the township from leasing its animal shelter to Ocean County.

Councilman Thomas Nivison, who last week pleaded with his fellow council members not to approve the lease agreement, is one of the leaders of the petition drive, along with Philip Brilliant, Christopher and Andrea Raimann and Dana Tormollan.

Nivison made a motion to table the ordinance that approved the lease of the animal shelter for $1 a year to Ocean County, but the motion failed when only two other council members — James Quinlisk and David Ciccozzi — supported it.

"I have not heard one person tell me they want the shelter to go to the county," Nivison said last week. "My constituents, not one person."

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The petitioners need to collect at least 3,079 signatures of registered Toms River voters in order to send the ordinance back to the council for a potential repeal, or submit the measure to a public vote. That number represents 15% of the registered voters who cast ballots in the last state Assembly election, which was in November 2023.

The petitioners have 20 days to collect enough signatures.

Since February, residents, Toms River animal control officers and animal advocates have gone to the Township Council meetings asking the township not to lease the animal shelter to the county.

Mayor Daniel Rodrick has said that he believes the county will do a better job running the shelter than Toms River has done, and has claimed that it was only through his administration's efforts that many dogs and cats were adopted from a shelter that was full when he took office in January.

Advocates have said that Rodrick's figures about euthanasia rates at the county and Toms River shelters are not accurate for the last couple of years, and that Toms River's shelter has qualified as a "no-kill" facility in the last two years. Such a designation means fewer than 10% of a shelter's animals have been euthanized.

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Ocean County also only handles dogs and cats, and does not take in other pets, such as rabbits, guinea pigs or reptiles, advocates say. They also noted that the county does not handle injured wildlife.

The petition drive marks the second one this year aimed at repealing a Toms River ordinance. Petitioners collected enough signatures to repeal a measure cutting two police captains' jobs, and one patrol officer's job, form the police department's table of organization. The township council repealed the police ordinance by a 7 to 0 vote after Township Clerk Mike Cruoglio certified that residents had collected enough signatures.

But Rodrick said he will not approve any captains' promotions, or restore the job of police department spokeswoman Jillian Messina, whose position the mayor deemed unnecessary.

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The $700,000 savings from the retirement of two police captains is being used to fund 24-hour, 365-days-a-year ambulance service in town; residents of Toms River's barrier island sections, in particular, have long complained about lengthy wait times for an ambulance to arrive in their neighborhoods.

The animal shelter petitions will be available to be signed from 10 a.m. to noon and 3 to 5 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays, at Manforti Chiropractic, 541 Lakehurst Road. They can also be signed from 5 to 7 p.m. May 1 and 2 at Castle Park, Bay Avenue, from 5 to 7 p.m. May 1 at the Elks Lodge, 600 Washington St. More locations are expected to be announced soon.

Jean Mikle covers Toms River and several other Ocean County towns, and writes about issues related to Superstorm Sandy. 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: Toms River animal shelter could stay if petition drive succeeds