TOMS RIVER, NJ – When it comes to public relations, there’s no denying that Toms River Mayor Maurice Hill has the biggest annual PR budget of any mayor in Ocean County.
Hill hired the political consulting firm of New Jersey Democrat Senator Vin Gopal for video and multimedia creation. He hired former Monmouth County political blogger Art Gallagher to a $90,000 annual salary with benefits. Hill also uses $50,000 of taxpayer money annually to print a township ‘newspaper’, keeping his opponents out each issue. He also pays a former journalist to take photos of him at special events and has a dedicated public information officer in the township police department.
At last night’s Toms River Township council meeting, Councilmen Justin Lamb and Dan Rodrick questioned the mayor’s public relations arm, claiming it is working on behalf of the mayor’s re-election campaign.
At the center of attention was Art Ghallager, Hill’s chief propagandist. Gallagher was hired as a political campaign consultant by Hill in 2019 and was then given a full-time job in town hall as public information officer after the election.
Now, Gallagher is one again working on Hill’s campaign while also being paid by the township to write positive articles for the mayor as a town official.
It’s a line Lamb and Rodrick are now questioning after a contentious meeting over a $14,000,000 bond ordnance they opposed.
Lamb opposed Mayor Mo Hill’s recent actions regarding the Toms River Township budget. Lamb specifically opposed the new $14 million bond, the Business Improvement District’s top-heavy budget, and monthly payments of $2,700 to Democratic State Senator Vin Gopal for videos that have not been produced.
Lamb questioned the payments to Gopal’s company. Gopal says he has sold the company to an associate, but that company is still being paid and Lamb wants to know what for.
Council President Matt Lotano said the company is in the process of producing multimedia presentations to attract businesses to the planned downtown redevelopment and expansion project.
Lamb also accused Hill of using taxpayer money for political purposes at the height of campaign season.
According to Lamb, Hill is artificially manipulating the proposed budget to claim no tax increase but is actually creating long-term financial obligations for the people of Toms River.
Additionally, Lamb claimed that Hill and his allies are trying to spend large amounts of money before Election Day and deferring the tax increases until after the election, leading to a massive hidden tax increase.
Lamb also criticized Hill’s spending on campaign propaganda, hiring confidential employees (including his campaign manager, Art Gallagher), raising the cost of beach passes, and creating an expensive CCO exit tax that yields millions in fees for the township coffers.
Lamb suggested that the next administration must prioritize spending to avoid burdening future generations with inescapable debt.