TOMS RIVER, NJ – A political campaign mailer was sent out to young school children across Toms River on Thursday by the campaign of Mo Hill for Mayor and Matt Lotano, Josh Kopp, and Kevin Geohegan for Toms River Council.
The letter, addressed by downtown construction developer Matt Lotano, a member of the Toms River Council and running for re-election under Toms River Mayor Maurice Hill, had a picture of Lotano and his wife telling children how the Mo Hill team cares about education in Toms River.
Parents weren’t happy when they found mail addressed to their children contained a political campaign message by the township’s current elected officials.
“I was shocked,” a parent who wished to remain identified said. “When my daughter got a letter from a councilman running for office, I thought it must have been either a mistake or some kind of twisted plan to reach me through my child.”
Another person who reached out to Shore News Network to complain about the letter said he received the letter from Lotano, but as a European immigrant, he’s not even sure he’s allowed to vote.
Parents across Toms River have expressed their frustration over the mailer.
“I have a green card; I don’t even know if I’m allowed to vote,” he said. “I know my 14-year-old boy certainly isn’t, so I’m not sure who he bought this list from, but they need to do a better job. These are the people who want to represent us, and they can’t even get something small like this right.”
In a recent campaign mailer, Hill blasted school teachers criticizing them for ‘corruption’ school children with left-wing propaganda and LBGTQ teaching. Now, Hill and his team are claiming they are the team for education and contacting school children.
When contacting the campaign through Facebook, a generic reply was given.
“Thank you for your message and alerting us,” Lotano said. “We are checking into this. Our sincere apologies for the error in the mailer being addressed to your [child]. All mailers are intended only for registered voters.”
Dan Rodrick, who is running for office against Hill and his team, said the mailer is embarrassing not only for Hill’s team but for the township, citing that the Hill team are currently elected officials.
Rodrick said his children did not receive the mailer but confirmed he has also been receiving calls from concerned parents about the solicitation.
Shore News Network reached out to Art Gallagher, Mo Hill’s campaign manager. Gallagher refused to comment on the matter.
“I know Mo Hill needs the votes,” Rodrick joked. “Maybe Mo is trying to reach the last audience who isn’t aware of how bad he has screwed up Toms River.”
Rodrick added that sending campaign mailers to children was not acceptable.
In the letter, Lotano warned children of the growth of the Orthodox Jewish community and told them he and his team were doing a good job at tackling the issues associated with that growth. He also told the children not to listen to divisive messaging from his opponents who are criticizing “Lakewood Style” overdevelopment.
Lotano or his campaign has not revealed the origin of the leaked list with children’s names and addresses.