Toms River MUA Building (Photo: Daniel Nee)
After the township council in December failed to support a measure that would have eliminated the Toms River Municipal Utilities Authority and roll the agency’s responsibilities into the municipal government itself, the issue has simmered as Mayor Daniel Rodrick’s political foes took majority control of the governing body. But while dissolving the MUA – characterized by Rodrick as a political patronage pit – is less likely than ever in 2026, the mayor has called on the council to consider an ordinance that would prevent appointees from receiving taxpayer-funded health benefits.
Rodrick issued a statement over the weekend calling on the council to “pass an ordinance eliminating taxpayer-funded healthcare benefits for political appointees who serve only a few hours per year.”
All seven commissioners on the MUA board are politically appointed to their terms by a majority vote of the township council. Rodrick’s latest call for benefits to be stripped comes as one commissioner, Phil Brilliant, was reappointed by the council last week. Brilliant has been an ardent opponent of Rodrick, having created an anti-Rodrick social media presence and spearheaded an unsuccessful mayoral recall campaign. Brilliant, who owns an environmental consulting business, has acknowledged his health benefits have cost about $14,000 per year, but said they are far less than the mayor’s figure of $40,000.
Brilliant’s package notwithstanding, MUA commissioners are entitled to health benefits packages that could conceivably reach the $40,000 figure if they choose family healthcare plans based on their positions. The commissioners are responsible for attending monthly MUA meetings and voting on various resolutions and appropriations measures. The five regular commissioners are Charles Valvano, the current chairman, former OCUA engineer Tariq M. Siddiqui, the vice chairman, attorney James Braaten, attorney Kim Pascarella and Brilliant. The board also carries two alternate commissioners, Shmuel “Sam” Ellenbogen, who also serves as a county commissioner, and Katarina Sevastakis, the daughter of former township council member John Sevastakis.
According to public budgeting records, Valvano and Ellenbogen received near the maximum $40,000 in benefits, while the other commissioners received varying levels of benefits, including annual stipends of $2,000. It was unclear which types of benefits – health, pension, opt-outs and stipends – each commissioner and alternate commissioner received based on the budget documentation. Shorebeat has requested a full accounting of each commissioner’s individual benefits package.
Rodrick has targeted the MUA budget since before he became mayor over its hiring practices. Past controversies included the hiring of Brick Township Mayor Stephen C. Acropolis as the agency’s executive director – which caused a major political uproar in the neighboring town – and the appointment of Morgan Engineering, founded by Ocean County Commissioner Frank Sadeghi, as the engineering firm of record. Morgan also counts the wife of Ocean County GOP Chairman George Gilmore as a partner.
Rodrick estimated that commissioners spend about six hours at the MUA’s meetings, and has held that there is no need for the agency to exist since it neither provides water nor treats sewage. The MUA is now only responsible for maintaining a network of pipes that transport sewage to the Ocean County Utilities Authority for treatment. Toms River is served by two private water purveyors and OCUA.
The proposal to dissolve the agency came within a voter of passage, however former councilman – and Rodrick ally – Justin Lamb ultimately voted against doing so since it was proposed at the final council meeting of 2025 with the latest study into its dissolution having been performed in 2021. Rodrick, however, has contended that Gilmore promised Lamb’s wife, Toms River Regional Board of Education member Ashley Lamb, a position as deputy county clerk in return for his ‘no’ vote. While there has been no solid evidence of a quid-pro-quo, Ashley Lamb was indeed appointed to the deputy clerk position in January.
“Her husband councilman Justin Lamb had always said he was in favor of dissolving the MUA, but ultimately voted against my plan,” Rodrick said. “I don’t think that was a coincidence.”
Members of the new council majority in Toms River have yet to discuss the issue, with Council President David Ciccozzi telling the Asbury Park Press in a separate article that he had not seen Rodrick’s latest request. But the mayor said he intends to call on the council to eliminate, by ordinance, health benefits for appointed commissioners if the governing body is unwilling to move forward on the full dissolution of the agency.
“Even if the Council refuses to revisit dissolution of the MUA and the millions in potential savings, the least we can do is eliminate $40,000-per-year healthcare packages for political appointees who attend one 30-minute meeting per month,” said Rodrick. “Providing platinum- level healthcare benefits for minimal service is an outrageous example of government waste. Our residents deserve accountability. They deserve fiscal responsibility. And they deserve leadership that protects taxpayers — not political insiders.”
The Toms River council will next meet on Wednesday, March 11, 2026.
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