TOMS RIVER, NJ – Anne M. Hammil-Pasqua, who serves as the President of the Republicans for Toms River GOP political party, which supported Mo Hill for Mayor in the June primary election, has been appointed by the town council as the newest member of the municipal bench in Toms River.
The council, stacked with Hill loyalists voted to confirm her nomination as a municipal court judge.
The council voted in favor of hiring Pasqua, who has deep political ties with Hill and his council running mates. So much so that Council President Josh Kopp abstained from voting on a resolution to give her the job.
At Wednesday night’s meeting, Mayor Hill vouched for Hammil’s credentials and experience.
Toms River Councilman Justin Lamb asked Hill and Lotano if Hammil was being considered for any other reason other than her political affiliation as a splinter faction GOP party leader.
She was named president of the newly formed Republicans for Toms River club after it was formed under the direction of former GOP Chairman Frank B. Holman in order to nullify the longtime Toms River Regular Republicans.
Both Republican clubs were defeated in June by Councilman Dan Rodrick, who is a registered Republican but does not hold membership in either of the two rival GOP parties in Toms River.
After dismissing Lamb’s questioning regarding why she was chosen, Hill said she is a woman and the only person who lives in Toms River who applied for the position.
Hill said several other candidates from out of town submitted resumes, but he made his decision based on her gender and hometown.
The appointment of Pasqua to the bench puts the judge at odds with over 75% of Toms River residents who voted against her club’s endorsed candidates in June.
Earlier in the meeting, it was revealed that another ordinance introduced by Hill which sought to move several of his political appointments to union-protected jobs, was pulled by Lotano hours before the meeting.
The appointment and the ordinance highlight the end of Hill’s political career, which has been wrought with political patronage appointments of connected political figures and questionable land deals involving township-owned land.
In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, when residents were not permitted to attend meetings at town hall, Hill hired his political ally Greg P. McGuckin as the Director of Public Law.
Although Hill lost his election, opponents now feel like, more than ever, he is stacking town hall with political allies and trying to protect patronage jobs he has dished out during his three-plus years in office.
Pasqua will fill a vacated seat on the bench.
Under Pasqua’s leadership, Republicans for Toms River have only won two seats out of seven contests. In 2021, her ticket was lost to Rodrick and Lamb. This year, her ticket of Hill, Lotano, Josh Kopp, and Kevin Geoghegan lost in a landslide defeat.
Currently, the Republicans for Toms River club is in talks with members of the Toms River Regular Republicans to merge the two rival factions after both sides suffered humiliating defeats in June.
GOP Chairman George Gilmore and members of the TRGOP have held at least two meetings with the Republicans for Toms River. Both meetings reportedly excluded Rodrick, who now holds the official GOP nomination for Mayor in November.
It is expected that GOP lawyer Peter Van Dyke will take over as President of the embattled club.