Toms River Mayor Dan Rodrick issued a scorching public statement on Thursday night accusing the Asbury Park Press and one of its reporters of engaging in biased, misleading and inaccurate reporting that he said unfairly targets his administration.
In the statement, Rodrick alleged that the newspaper has accepted advertising from a political action committee that he said is dedicated to opposing his administration, representing a conflict of interest that undermines the credibility of the paper’s coverage.
“As Mayor, it is my responsibility to stand up for both the truth and the interests of Toms River residents,” Rodrick said in his statement. He accused the newspaper of running sensational and misleading headlines, presenting opinion as fact, and omitting key information in its reporting. He also said that in some cases he is not contacted for comment, or that his responses are minimized within published articles.
Rodrick cited a recent article concerning a proposed 150-unit development in North Dover as an example of what he described as inaccurate reporting. According to the mayor, the development was approved more than a decade ago by a prior administration as part of an affordable housing plan. He said the only recent action by the Planning Board involved a legally required review to convert certain non-affordable units from apartments to condominiums, a change he said would be beneficial to the township.
Rodrick said that details about the project’s original approval and the nature of the recent Planning Board action were brought up during the meeting by the township’s attorney, planner and board members, but were not included in the published article. He said the omission left residents with a false impression that a new development had recently been approved by his administration.
“Why has my Administration become the target of these groups?” Rodrick asked, rhetorically. “Because we have broken the mold in New Jersey politics: we have rooted out political corruption, cut wasteful spending by $11 million per year, reduced the township budget by 9%, and kept municipal taxes flat every year I have been in office. We also negotiated the best affordable housing deal in the state.”
He also highlighted changes to Toms River’s affordable housing obligations, saying his administration negotiated a reduction in the number of required new affordable housing units. According to Rodrick, the state’s original mandate would have required 1,740 affordable units, which he said would have resulted in approximately 8,700 total new apartments under state guidelines. He said his administration negotiated that requirement down to 183 new units to cover the township’s needs for the next decade.
Rodrick also said his administration ended plans for high-rise development in downtown Toms River and blocked proposals for large-scale tower projects, which he characterized as part of a broader effort to limit overdevelopment.
In his statement, the mayor said he believes opposition from political groups and critical media coverage are driven by dissatisfaction with his administration’s policies and reforms. He urged residents to scrutinize coverage they read and to compare media reporting with their own experiences in the community.
“Toms River residents deserve honest, fact-based reporting,” Rodrick said, adding that his administration remains committed to transparency, fiscal responsibility and what he described as putting the township’s interests first.
The Asbury Park Press did not immediately respond to the mayor’s statement.