TOMS RIVER, N.J. – A lawsuit filed by longtime political activist and bankrupted Toms River MUA Commissioner Phil Brilliant is now being used in a court battle over whether Toms River must hire Republican political operative Noriko Kowalewski for a taxpayer-funded job at Town Hall.
Brilliant and Kowalewski are friends and political allies. Brilliant is suing to force Toms River Mayor Dan Rodrick to create a new job for her that would total more than $100,000 annually including salary and benefits.
The dispute centers on a January resolution approved by the Township Council appointing Kowalewski as Records Manager/Council Liaison in the Municipal Clerk’s Office. The resolution set her salary at $73,000 a year and called for her employment to begin Feb. 16, but she was never onboarded.
Under the law, only the mayor can hire employees, but a council resolution passed by the anti-Rodrick slate aligned with Brilliant was reportedly vetoed by the mayor.
“I’m not hiring your political campaign consultant friend,” Rodrick said during the contentious town hall meeting. “You can’t force me.”
Rodrick cited his cuts at town hall that eliminated nearly all of the politically appointed positions created and filled by former Mayor Maurice “Mo” Hill.
Brilliant, a political ally and acquaintance of Kowalewski and Hill, who has become one of Mayor Daniel Rodrick’s most visible opponents, filed the underlying lawsuit against the township, council, Rodrick and other municipal officials. The council has since filed its own crossclaims in that litigation, asking an Ocean County judge to compel the administration to process Kowalewski’s hiring.
Still, Brilliant, who receives free healthcare benefits from the Toms River MUA for attending a roughly one-hour meeting per month, is pushing the matter in court, forcing the township to spend more money to defend his lawsuit.
$73,000 Town Hall Job Became a Political Flashpoint
The council approved Kowalewski’s appointment Jan. 14 by a 4-3 vote.
Council members Clinton Bradley, Robert Bianchini, Thomas Nivison and David Ciccozzi voted in favor. Craig Coleman, Harry Aber and Lynn O’Toole voted against it.
The resolution did not merely authorize creation of a position. It specifically named Kowalewski as the person who would fill it. It was something that has never been done in Toms River. A resolution that identifies only one specific individual for a government job.
- Kowalewski was appointed to a Records Manager/Council Liaison position paying $73,000 annually. Medical benefits and pension payments would push that job to well over $100,000.
- The council resolution said she was supposed to begin work Feb. 16, but she was never onboarded. Rodrick refused to hire the political patronage position.
- Phil Brilliant is now asking a judge, through crossclaims in Brilliant’s lawsuit, to require the administration to carry out the hiring.
Her proposed duties included constituent services, clerical and administrative support for the council, public relations, community outreach and attendance at township events requested by the council president or council majority. It was a job that was created spefically for Kowaleski.
The political backdrop makes the hiring fight unusual.
Kowalewski has longstanding ties to fringe Republican politics in Ocean County and New Jersey. Brilliant, meanwhile, has been openly aligned with the political faction opposing Rodrick and was involved in the unsuccessful effort to recall the mayor. Kowalewski regularly appeared in public, at restaurants, dinners, and fundraisers with Brilliant and members of the township council, including Bianchini and Nivison.
How much would Noriko Kowalewski be paid?
The council resolution set the base salary at $73,000 annually. That figure does not include the potential taxpayer cost of benefits, pension contributions or other employment expenses.
Council Says Mayor Has No Right to Block Hiring
The council’s lawyers argue the issue is straightforward: under their interpretation of the Faulkner Act and Toms River’s municipal code, council has authority to appoint employees working under the Municipal Clerk. The municipal clerk has not asked for the position and said at a recent meeting they do not want this position or this person working under them.
Who is Noriko Kowalewski?
According to her profile, Kowalewski is a political campaign consultant, but her Facebook profile shows her as a local political gadfly, in poses with hundreds of local and low-level politicians in Toms River, Ocean County and the Jersey Shore. Kowalewski poses in photos as if the elected officials and other gadflies were worthy of celebrity status.
In an Aug. 28 filing, Archer & Greiner attorneys representing the council said the administration blocked Kowalewski from being processed as a township employee. Brilliant is also being represented by Peter Van Dyke, an anti-Trump lawyer whose name has been passed around to run against Rodrick next year for Toms River mayor.
The council alleges the mayor and acting business administrator “used their official position(s) to unlawfully direct Township staff not to administratively process the hiring of Noriko Kowalewski.”
The mayor contends the hiring of Kowalewski does not fall under the council’s authority.
Council President David Ciccozzi made the same allegation in a sworn certification, saying Kowalewski had still not been onboarded despite the January resolution.
The council is asking Superior Court Judge Francis R. Hodgson Jr. to rule that the administration must honor the resolution.
In effect, one part of the litigation could determine whether the township is forced to put Kowalewski on the municipal payroll.
Why hasn’t Kowalewski started working for Toms River?
According to the council’s court filings, the administration did not process her hiring after the council approved the appointment. The council contends that refusal violates its authority under the Faulkner Act. The administration has disputed the council’s interpretation of its powers.
Brilliant’s Role Adds Another Layer to the Hiring Fight
Brilliant is not a neutral figure in Toms River politics. He’s out to remove Rodrick and return the township back to the “Mo Hill Gang” unsanctioned Republican club in Toms River. That club is not officially recognized by the Republican Party. It seeks to regain control lost by Hill when he was defeated by Rodrick in the 2023 Republican primary election.
Brilliant also serves as a commissioner on the Toms River Municipal Utilities Authority and has emerged as a persistent critic of Rodrick. He also participated in the failed campaign to recall the mayor. That effort failed to get the necessary signatures. It is said that Brilliant’s feud with the mayor is over the mayor’s desire to dissolve the MUA and end benefits for 1-hour-per-month workers like Brilliant.
That creates an unusual triangle: Brilliant is suing the township, Kowalewski is the political figure the council wants placed into a municipal job, and the council majority has entered Brilliant’s lawsuit seeking a court order enforcing the appointment.
Brilliant has come under fire after all of his content on his anti-Rodrick pages were flagged as “AI Content” by Facebook, prompting the embattled business owner to defend his use of AI to attack the mayor daily…sometimes even three, four, and five times daily.
Is Phil Brilliant personally asking the judge to put Kowalewski on the payroll?
Technically yes. The litigation is broader than the hiring dispute. The documents supplied show that the Township Council’s crossclaim within Brilliant’s lawsuit specifically asks the court to enforce the council’s authority to appoint Kowalewski and prevent the administration from blocking her onboarding.
It also questions Brilliant’s role as the face of the lawsuit, which is seen as another branch of the MUA Commissioner’s political and legal war against the mayor.
Brilliant gets creepy and goes off the deepend doxxing child
This week, Brilliant bizarrely escalated that war by doxxing young boys working part-time summer jobs with the township. It wasn’t the first time Brilliant enageged in predatory or stalking behavior. On a Facebook page operated by Brilliant, photos and videos of the mayor driving his car, his home, his wife and other women’s homes have been published on Brilliant’s page. The stalking behavior came to light at a recent township council meeting when the mayor accused Brilliant and his allies of stalking the women. In the past, Brilliant has also doxxed other children working for the township in part time summer jobs. It is not known if Brilliant’s stalking behavior extends to those children. At this time, no criminal complaints for stalking or child endangerment have been filed against him. His page continues to mention the names of young boys working minimum wage part-time summer jobs throughout the township.
“It’s beyond creepy,” one family member told Shore News Network. “He’s some sort of freaky, twisted pervert who needs help. He should retract what he said and apologize to the family for his weird, creepy, stalker behavior and act like a grown man. Not like some disturbed Megan’s Law offender.”
Taxpayer Cost Goes Beyond $73,000 Salary
The resolution lists $73,000 as Kowalewski’s annual salary.
For taxpayers, however, the ultimate cost of a full-time municipal employee can be higher once health coverage, pension contributions, payroll taxes and other benefits are included.
That is one reason the position became politically contentious when it was introduced.
The council said the job was necessary to bridge communication between council members, the Clerk’s Office and residents, yet the Clerk’s office never requested or acknowledged the need for such a position.
Sources: Ocean County Superior Court, Phil Brilliant/Facebook, Toms River Council livestream public meetings, Archer and Griner filing, Noriko Kowalewski/Facebook; Toms River MUA budget.
