Toms River police chief takes township to court over his unpaid suspension
TOMS RIVER - Police Chief Mitch Little has sued the township in Ocean County Superior Court, saying he was improperly suspended for two days last month without a necessary hearing. The lawsuit asks for the charges against the chief to be dismissed.
Little was suspended without pay on April 16 and 17, after Business Administrator Jon Salonis said he failed to produce requested reports on police department activities by a designated time. Salonis also said that Little did not produce a requested report about the amount of vacation time he has taken, accrued and carried over from 2023. He had previously received a written reprimand from Salonis for not producing reports in a timely matter.
The lawsuit, filed April 30 by Timothy J.P. Quinlan of the Collingswood firm of Quinlan & Associates, LLC, said the disciplinary notice violates state law, as it does not provide a date for a required hearing on the matter. Thirty days have passed since the suspension, and no hearing has been scheduled, so the charges should be dismissed, Quinlan argues.
New Jersey statute 40A: 14-149, which governs the removal or suspension of a police officer, reads: "If any member of officer of the police department or force shall be suspended pending a hearing as a result of charges made against him, such hearing, except as otherwise provided by law, shall be commenced within 30 days from the date of the service of the copy of the complaint upon him, in default of which the charges shall be dismissed and said member of officer shall be returned to duty."
See the full lawsuit at the bottom of this story.
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Toms River Labor Counsel Jean Cipriani said the township has not yet been served with the lawsuit. She added, "certainly we will review any procedural issues raised."
Little's lawsuit is the latest action in an ongoing dispute between the chief and Mayor Daniel Rodrick's administration, which began when the mayor rescinded promotions made by the chief and then cut the jobs of two retiring police captains. The $700,000 saved by not replacing the captains' jobs is being used to bolster first aid service in town, particularly in the township's barrier island sections, where residents have complained of long wait times for ambulances.
Rodrick said adding more first aid responders was a "life or death" issue, while Little and other supporters of the police department said that there were available grants and other ways to find money to fund additional ambulance staff.
Residents who opposed the ordinance cutting the captains' jobs conducted a petition drive to have the measure repealed. The petitioners were successful, and the council voted to repeal the ordinance, but Rodrick said he will not allow any captains' promotions in the police department and also will not restore the job of Jillian Messina, the former department spokeswoman.
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Messina sued Rodrick and the Township Council in April, saying she was fired because of the mayor's animosity toward her father, Toms River Regional Board of Education member Joseph Nardini.
Assistant Township Attorney Peter Pascarella said that Messina was a confidential employee, who did not have a contract, "which means she can be terminated for any reason that is not unlawful. Her position was eliminated for economic reasons, which is solely the administration's discretion."
Mitch Little by Dennis Carmody on Scribd
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 many 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: Toms River police chief sues township over unpaid suspension
