Superior Court Judge Francis Hodgson declined to order Mayor Daniel Rodrick’s administration to hire Noriko Kowalewski or give her back pay, while leaving questions over the council’s outside legal contract unresolved for now.

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A Superior Court judge has rejected an effort by the Toms River Township Council to force Mayor Daniel Rodrick’s administration to hire politically connected Republican operative Noriko Kowalewski on the municipal payroll, and declined to order her hiring or award back pay for a position she never began.

Ocean County Assignment Judge Francis R. Hodgson Jr. ruled that the council’s authority to appoint the municipal clerk did not give council members the power to independently appoint employees working beneath the clerk, including the Records Manager/Council Liaison position the council attempted to give Kowalewski earlier this year.

The hiring went against Rodrick’s plan to cut politically appointed patronage jobs, known as “confidential assistants” in town hall. Since taking office, Rodrick has reduced payroll within town hall by a reported $2 million.

“The Council’s authority to appoint the Municipal Clerk does not imply authority to appoint every subordinate or related employee in that office,” Judge Hodgson wrote in today’s ruling.

The decision resolves one of the most contentious pieces of an expanding lawsuit filed by Toms River Municipal Utilities Authority Commissioner Philip Brilliant, a longtime Rodrick critic. The council later entered the litigation through crossclaims and asked the court to compel the administration to process Kowalewski’s appointment.

Brilliant, who led the failed attempt to recall Mayor Rodrick is also under fire for receiving free healthcare benefits for his 1-hour-per-month position on the MUA.

Council Voted 4-3 to Put Kowalewski on Township Payroll

The fight began Jan. 14, when the council majority approved a resolution naming Kowalewski as Records Manager/Council Liaison. Rodrick, and township attorneys at the time said the appointment was illegal and that hiring employees was the duty of the mayor, not the council.

The judge agreed, ruling against Brilliant and the council, negating their resolution to hire Kowalewski.

Unlike a resolution that merely creates or funds a position, the measure specifically named Kowalewski as the person who would receive the job, which is unheard of in municipal government contracting. It also did not provide funding in the council’s annual budget to pay for the position.

The official council resolution set her salary at $73,000 and called for her employment to begin Feb. 16. Council members Clinton Bradley, Robert Bianchini, Thomas Nivison and David Ciccozzi supported the appointment, while Craig Coleman, Harry Aber and Lynn O’Toole voted against it.

The resolution described the job as involving constituent services, administrative work for the council, public relations and community outreach. Rodrick called it a ‘no-show’ job for a friend of the ‘Mo Hill Club’ to a position he said no longer exists. Rodrick claims he offered Kowalewski to apply for jobs in other departments where there were job openings and to go through the same process as other prospective employees would.

He did not say whether or not she did that.

Rodrick refused to onboard Kowalewski.

“I’m not hiring your political campaign consultant friend,” Rodrick said during the dispute earlier this year. “You can’t force me.”

That disagreement eventually became part of Brilliant’s lawsuit, with the council arguing that its resolution legally installed Kowalewski and that the administration was obligated to process her paperwork.

The council and Brilliant also sought retroactive compensation dating to the February start date listed in the resolution.

Hodgson declined both requests. The job never existed. She was not hired, and the council had no authority to force the mayor to hire her.

She gets nothing.

Judge Says Council Cannot Hire Employees Beneath Municipal Clerk

At the center of Hodgson’s decision was the structure of Toms River government and where the Records Manager/Council Liaison actually sits within it. The township code places that position inside the Office of the Municipal Clerk and states that the employee works under the clerk’s direction.

The clerk had publicly said he does not need a records manager and refused the notion that he could be compelled to hire a friend of the council to a job that was not necessary.

Although the clerk can perform functions for council members, Hodgson found that did not transform the employee into a member of the council’s own staff. He ultimately works for the mayor’s office.

The council argued its power to appoint the municipal clerk extended to employees working within that office. The judge disagreed.

Hodgson also rejected the argument that municipal counsel could independently effectuate Kowalewski’s hiring through the council resolution when the council itself had not established legal authority to make the appointment.

That means Kowalewski will not receive the job or retroactive salary under the relief sought in the case.

It is unknown whether the township council and its co-plaintiff, Phil Brilliant, will continue to pursue the creation of a municipal job for the political fluffer. Kowalewski regularly cheers on political candidates, manages political campaigns, and social media pages. She is often present at speaking engagements for political candidates and is a very active political operative for rogue factions of the GOP.

$73,000 Salary Was Only Part of Taxpayer Cost

The financial fight went well beyond Kowalewski’s $73,000 salary.

Rodrick previously estimated the position would cost taxpayers approximately $126,000 annually once salary, health coverage, pension costs and other employment expenses were included.

There is a significant pension cost attached to a qualifying municipal position.

New Jersey’s 2026 local-government PERS contribution schedule places the employer contribution rate at 16.36 percent. Applied to a $73,000 pensionable salary, that represents approximately $11,943 per year in employer pension contributions alone, bringing salary and the employer PERS obligation to about $84,943 before health insurance, payroll costs and other benefits are added.

Health coverage can then add tens of thousands of dollars annually depending on whether an employee elects single, spouse, parent-child or family coverage. Toms River’s healthcare plans can cost up to $45,000 per year for a family of four.

The exact cost to Toms River would therefore have depended on Kowalewski’s benefit elections and required employee contributions. Rodrick’s approximately $126,000 figure has been his administration’s estimate of the potential overall annual cost.

The township ultimately never placed Kowalewski on the payroll.

Kowalewski Has Long History in Ocean County Republican Politics

Kowalewski is not a newcomer to government or Ocean County politics.

She previously worked for former Republican U.S. Rep. Tom MacArthur, worked in Berkeley Township government and has served as chairwoman of the Ocean County Federation of Republican Women. She remains active in Republican political circles throughout Ocean County.

Rodrick has said Kowalewski worked politically with members of the council majority. Council members have disputed that characterization and denied that she worked on their campaigns.

What is not disputed is that Kowalewski has longstanding political relationships in the area.

Photographs previously published by Shore News Network and posted publicly on social media have shown Kowalewski attending dinners, political events and social gatherings with members of the council majority and other figures involved in the local Republican organization.

Those photographs document the relationships and social connections surrounding an appointment that quickly became a major political fight inside Toms River.

Phil Brilliant Lawsuit Became Vehicle for Council Hiring Fight

The underlying case was brought by Brilliant, a private citizen who also serves as a commissioner on the Toms River Municipal Utilities Authority.

Brilliant has been one of Rodrick’s most persistent political opponents and has been involved in previous legal and political challenges involving the administration.

The Kowalewski dispute became part of Brilliant’s broader case after the council asserted its own claims seeking enforcement of the January hiring resolution.

Brilliant’s lawsuit became the case in which the council sought judicial enforcement of Kowalewski’s appointment, while the council retained its own outside lawyers to represent its interests.

The dispute has now generated another taxpayer-cost question — who pays those lawyers.

Judge Raises Questions Over Council’s Archer & Greiner Contract

The council retained Archer & Greiner to represent it as its dispute with Rodrick and the administration moved into court. Council members contend they need independent representation because the township attorney cannot simultaneously represent the administration and a council that is litigating against it.

Hodgson agreed that there is a genuine conflict between the executive and legislative branches that could justify the council having separate attorneys.

He did not, however, rule that the manner in which Archer & Greiner was retained was valid.

The administration has challenged whether the council followed municipal and state public contracting laws, whether the council itself had authority to execute the arrangement and whether the professional-services contract was properly awarded.

Hodgson said the record before him did not contain enough information concerning the township’s contracting requirements, the scope of Archer & Greiner’s appointment or the process used to retain the firm.

As a result, the judge did not validate the council resolution retaining Archer & Greiner and did not order Toms River taxpayers to pay the firm’s outstanding invoices.

That issue remains alive.

The question is therefore no longer simply whether the council can have its own lawyer. Hodgson recognized circumstances in which separate representation may be justified.

The unresolved issue is whether this particular contract was legally entered into and whether the council followed the procurement and contracting procedures required before taxpayers can be ordered to pay it.

The council’s legal fight with the administration has become part of a broader battle over Toms River government, spending and the division of authority between the mayor and council.

Judge Orders Township to Broadcast Public Comment

Brilliant did prevail on another portion of his lawsuit.

Hodgson ordered Toms River to livestream and retain the entire public portion of Township Council meetings, including public comment.

“The Township must record, livestream, and retain Council meetings on the Township’s YouTube channel in their entirety, including the public-comment portion, absent lawful amendment of that rule by the Council or further order of the Court,” Hodgson wrote.

The issue arose after township livestreams ended before the public-comment portion of some meetings.

Rodrick has said the decision to stop broadcasting those portions was not an attempt to silence residents.

The mayor said council meetings had increasingly stretched for hours and that continuing the broadcasts required township employees — some of whom had already worked full daytime shifts — to remain at Town Hall deep into the evening.

The court nevertheless found that under the council’s existing meeting rule, the livestream requirement covered the entire meeting, including public comment.

At a future date, Hodgson will decide how the council can legally proceed hiring its own attorney to fight the township and who should pay for it. In this matter, like his healthcare benefits, Brilliant and the council are also seeking to have the township pay for his legal fees in the matter.