Mayor Offers Clarification of Ortley Comments

Toms River Mayor Thomas Kelaher said that he is "very sympathetic" to the struggles of Ortley Beach residents recovering from Superstorm Sandy and his comments in a recent news article were misunderstood. 

Kelaher is quoted in a June 3 Bloomberg article saying he is "so annoyed with the people there," referring to the complaints about the pace of recovery from residents. After many on social media took offense to the mayor's words, Kelaher offered a clarification Friday. 

"What I said in the Bloomberg article was that I was annoyed about some of the complaints from the ‘Monday morning quarterbacks’ who accuse the township of having done nothing at all to alleviate the conditions created by the storm," Kelaher said in a news release.

"These types of complaints are absolutely unfounded. In fact, since Sandy hit, the town has not yet stopped addressing the storm-related problems and we will continue to do so."

Many took to social media to express their displeasure with the quote on Thursday night and into Friday, posting their thoughts about the mayor's comment. 

"This is a disgrace and an insult to the people of Ortley Beach who have suffered and lost so much," said Ortley Beach resident Michael Capo in a posting to the Ortley Strong Facebook group. 

Saying that the township has "done nothing" is an insult to the employees, emergency responders and volunteers who have worked nonstop to help Toms River recover, according to Kelaher.

"We have dedicated the last seven months of every department in Town Hall to helping the residents recover from Hurricane Sandy," he said.

Ortley lags in terms of recovery since residents were not allowed back in until Feb. 2, something that the township could not control, according to Kelaher. 

In the news release, Kelaher points to several township efforts to help residents recover from Sandy, including a home demolition program that will be reimbursed by FEMA. 

"Due to our persistence since December 2012, FEMA finally gave us authorization to help demolish homes. That permission was just granted on May 17, and we’ve already begun to demolish homes on behalf of residents," Kelaher said.

Toms River's debris removal program of household contents continues, while neighboring municipalities have ended their projects. Over 290,000 tons of debris has been collected through March, according to the mayor. 

"We’re the last town to keep the debris removal program going, and we’re doing so upon request through our Public Works Department. This shows our continued commitment to Ortley, the North Beaches and the mainland area that were affected by the storm," Kelaher said. 

The township has brought in 400 truckloads of sand at a cost of $1.6 million to rebuild dunes, opened a section of beach for recreation, and continues to try to secure dunes for a substantial federal replenishment project. 

More 250 homes on both the barrier island and mainland must be removed, a number could rise as more properties owners learn that their houses are destroyed beyond repair, the mayor said.

Kelaher ends the news release by addressing private property issues, stating that the township cannot do everything and that some decisions are left up to homeowners. 

"What many of the so-called ‘complainers’ don’t realize is that the battered homes are private property. We cannot take it upon ourselves to tear down someone’s home," he said. "Each homeowner needs to decide what they want to do about their own property. What the township can do is fix up township property, which is what we have done."