With all due respect, Mr. Councilman, I think the most used household word in Toms River, is Absent. As in the local elected officials of Toms River have been absent from their duties to inform and protect the citizens of this town for a very long time.
That being said, I think the second most used household words are Finger pointer. As in blaming everyone else for the problems we are facing as a town because of the absence of leadership skills by local elected officials.
And to round out this discussion with the third most used word going around, Inept. As in, you don't know what you're doing. So stop blaming the boogie man that you call FEMA for the short comings of local elected officials.

Thank you Councilman Sevastakis for providing as much information as possible in this article and sharing the links and contact people who can help us individually. It appears that some people feel that our local officials are capable of working miracles and battling Federal Agencies to obtain satisfaction for TR residents that even our Governor is finding challenging. I guess those same people like "nota sellout" think that even though it appears from this article that you and your family are displaced, you remain Absent, a finger pointer and Inept. I assure you that I have spoken to many people who feel just the opposite. I commend you for caring about the residents of this town and doing your best in the worst situation that most of us have ever had to deal with. I suppose you should also be able to snap your fingers and get all of our insurance companies to make good on own policies too. If you can make that miracle happen put me on your list. Please know that this long time resident of TR and many others genuinely appreciate all of your efforts and the sincerity of your words in this article.

I see nothing but a bunch of words. Absolutely meaningless.

Even though you may not agree with what I said, MANY citizens of this town feel as though their local officials have failed them, once again, and not just in this catastrophe. Inadequate dune construction, mountains of garbage piled up on Rt. 35 from commercial property owners until yesterday(blaming FEMA rules for this but in fact it was Toms River's lack of an agreement with AshBritt for removal of commercial refuse. Lavallette removed all their commercial refuse in a timely fashion using AshBritt, why not Toms River?), access being denied to property owners because of "safety concerns"(but members of the New York Giants were allowed into unsafe areas for photo ops), charging for building permits in the beginning of the rebuilding effort where other towns didn't.
The list goes on. If you want to reward these "leaders" with pats on the back for a job not well done, that's your choice.

I still haven't gotten a refund from the township on my $46 electrical permit to turn my power back on. Another empty promise by the politicians?

FEMA may be a household name but not this councilperson. Lived here for 10 years and maybe heard his name twice. Probably on the ballot. Reality is they have been a no show team. This article is a joke and just word's that anyone can find a million times a day on the net. The Mayor has not been around either, but this councilman is rarely seen around town. Maybe that's why most people I talk too never heard of him.

Ineptocracy.

And MOST curse words are also only four (4) letters, so that says tons about the Gov'mt run FEMA....useless at best , but a job for others ...connected..right Brownie !!!

JOKE also a four letter word, seriously.........

how about home that already at the highest elevations possible now. They're forced to comply with the V zone requirements but can't raise there house?? Can't the township grandfather those in Ortley beach so they can make the decisions they need to make in order to get back in their homes. I know several home that already exceed the maximum height a house can go up. How did they do it? Who did they pay off?? Why isn't this matter resolved already??? Why is Ortley beach only dealing with this problem? Who should be responsible for these decisions??

Will a real "leader" please stand up!!!

This quotation from the letter is what makes me crazy. How can a property owner make a reasonable decision about rebuilding, elevating, or even repairing, given this level of uncertainty:

[' We were advised that revised maps based on further data and study will be published in August and it is likely that the Velocity Zone will "shrink" on the mainland however no further information will be available until August. Governor Christie announced on Jan. 25 that the ABFE maps that were published by FEMA and the National Flood Insurance Program in December of 2012, would be adopted in the State of NJ, in an effort to allow rebuilding to begin.']

FEMA is a four letter word.

$100,000 is the price of ineptness, from the mayor and council right up to our forever-campaigning doughboy governor. Multiply that price by 25,000 homes and businesses along the NJ coastline! I wonder why the "red" states flooded by Katrina didn't get this crap from FEMA. Maybe their politicians stood up to FEMA's madness.

How does a dope like this get elected? His verbose letter is true representation of his invaluable performance as a pretend leader. Did it take him over 100 days to cut and paste this common information together to make his self-admiring style appear more important. Out to lunch idler, muttonhead simpleton. Resign and disappear

If anyone else in ortley beach can't raise there house anymore because of this fixed elevation requirement please let me know. I can't believe that were the only ones with this problem. WE will be forced to pay the higher flood insurance rates because we can't raise our home. The other option for all those in the same boat is not to pay flood insurance at all. Not much of an option. I hope the township will address this matter ASAP, before we loose our shirts!

Do you think that covering 90 percent of the property with concrete was something that was beneficial to all of your neighbors when you live in a Flood Zone? Did you "consult" with "The one agency that appears to hold all the important cards with regard to my decision making about my own home" when you put the big addition onto your property 5 years ago, or did you just put the biggest thing that would legally fit on the lot, at the same height, and now are complaining about how much it will cost you to "lift it". And, as a "Councilman-at-Large whose obligation it is to act in the best interest of all of our taxpayers and citizens regardless of which section of town they live in".... tell me, what orifice did that statement come out of ?

I have no problems with John Sevastakis. I applaud anyone that is trying to bring clarity to all these matters. The problem I have is that we can't raise our house because of the elevation restriction. A neighbor just 2 doors down was permitted to do so, when he built his house a year and a half ago. How is this in the best interest to all the taxpayers? I just think it would be a good idea to grand father those who have lived and payed taxes in ortley beach since the 1940s.

Are you allowed to "loot" your own vehicle of it's tires and wheels "after" it has been declared a "salvage from the storm" and you have gotten your insurance monies?.....just wondering.

The check doesn't come until after the car has been towed from your property.

No, you are not allowed. My son asked his ins. co if he was allowed to take out radio system, etc. and they said no, he would be compensated for that in the settlement. Well, low and behold, he gets a call a few days ago from the ins. co. inquiring about the radio system, etc., which he did not take out, but someone did. Was it the tow truck driver, the salvage people? All equipment was ripped out.

just wondering why no one can answer , or evaluate my concerns.

btw ... really didn't get much insurance monies , and since no one closed the matter on the elevation issue we're really going to have to bite the expense bullet on first fixing the house, than waiting to find out if we an raise it. This is like putting the cart before the horse. Please tell me "What would you do if you were in our situation"? Would you just sell the property? Who would buy it if their forced to pay
thousand and thousand on flood insurance?

please ... no fluff ... just facts!

@Naru , the whole council wasn't on that bus ride. John was not on that bus, what don't you get about his house being destroyed also. You should really find out true facts before you assume online you look really stupid.

Hey "Naru", was that really this guy that made the jokes on the Tour bus after Sandy? We heard about a councilman with moobs doing that. Unbelievable.......well actually, it is believable.

Roy, yet you're commenting on an Internet article. You can talk how you please you're still who you are, have you seem the way these people talk? I can be 40 years old and still illiterate like them. I'm commenting because I know and simply just don't. The council has to wrote an article when they're told to, it isn't 100 days late. It's part of the job. You people just sit on here and complain because you can't do so to the federal government, who is who you should be complaining to. Just because this happened to our town doesn't mean that our mayor and council are to take blame for all of it? If your head wasn't so far up theirs, you'd realize how stupid it looks to blame them. But that's what simple minded people do. And no my actually balanced support won't disappear, idk who you are to tell me that so you can disappear.

@ Janice.......you make a great point there at the end with the tenure comment.....one thing though..."moobs" was the correct spelling....

Wow Kit needs to loosen the belt on her bathrobe and also lighten up on the afternoon chablis. Take a shower, start your day and focus, or just keep the crazy comments coming

Hey Kit,
If you know Sevas wasn't on the bus, then you know who was on the bus. Who was on the bus?

The people of Toms River are fortunate to have someone as compaaionate and caring as you to represent them. I have no doubt you are doing all you possibly can to assist your constituents during this difficult time. Don't get disheartened by naysayers, just keep up your good work. Lord knows you have no control over the Federal Bureaucracy that is FEMA.

I agree with Barbara, I can't believe after all this destruction that some people haven't become more humble and compassionate. The accusations in some of these comments are proof that some people are consumed with vicious negativity. Be careful because that it can eat you up inside. I'm sure that Councilman Sevastakis is so glad he took the time out of life to write this article so that a group of miserable people could take the opportunity to take cheap shots at him. It's disgraceful, especially the neighbor, and you should all consider how you would feel if your family members were to read lies and false accusations like this about you? Oh that's right none of you guys have probably ever had the guts to run for public office or if you did run and didn't win, maybe it's just sour grapes. Our society appears to get more and more heartless everyday.

just to clarify, there are two barbars on here. Who is John Sevestakis? I made so many, many phone calls and emails to the twp and did not get one call back. Let's call me Barbara #1. Very frustrating, but we remodeling our home, what is is. hubby been busting his butt to get it back to normal. we will not raise, twp. wont even return my phone calls. In the end, if we can't sell it, which i am sure of, we will walk away. sad.......alot of good memories in that house.......

Why did you build an ice rink right next to a perfectly good ice rink.is it because you needed a place for Jackson hockey team to play.? I know your son wasn't getting time on the ice in the toms river team ,so Jackson put him on first team,and lo and behold now Jackson has somewhere to play?

What a waste of taxpayer money!,