Public Records In Toms River

Government records are the people’s records held in trust by public officials for current and future generations.

The custodian of municipal records in New Jersey is the municipal clerk - and it was my honor to have served as the clerk of both the Township of Dover (our town’s legal name from our founding in 1767 to 2006) and the Township of Toms River (our legal name since a voter referendum in 2006).

When I first became clerk, my office embarked on an ambitious records management program thanks to a grant program then in existence administered by the New Jersey Department of State. Over several years, we applied for and received - in a competitive program with other participating municipalities - almost $500,000 in grant mon- ies. With these specially earmarked funds and the endorsement of the mayor and council, the Township hired a fulltime records manager and several part-time assistants, and purchased necessary supplies and equipment.

Over 10,000 (History - See Page 7)

The groundbreaking was on Caudina Avenue, which is the back road past two banks that leads to the Seacourt Mall. Officials at the groundbreaking last year said that the building will enhance services currently provided, and will also add more. Some of the specialties noted during the presentation was

Mayor Maurice “Mo” Hill has been pushing for the facility to be named after Lomell. He said in a recent interview that the town sent proclamations to Congressmen Andy Kim and Chris Smith and both were in favor of that name. Kim is a Democrat who used to represent Toms River. After the districts changed, the town is now represented by Smith, a Republican. Given that there’s support from both political sides, “I’m pretty confident that’s going to