Toms River cuts Silverton EMS services, citing ‘financial irregularities’

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Toms River will no longer dispatch Silverton First Aid to emergency calls because of financial irregularities inside the department, according to Toms River Mayor Dan Rodrick. “We received an email, copied on it, from Chief [Mitch] Little stating he was ordered by Mayor Rodrick to stop dispatching Silverton First Aid,” said Kevin Geoghegan, the Silverton First Aid squad business administrator. And for now, this means the ambulances will remain inside their bays. “We’ve been advised by legal counsel that financial irregularities associated with Silverton EMS are potentially criminal, and the matter is being referred to the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office. Given what we have learned, I had no choice but to take swift action,” Rodrick wrote in a statement to News 12. Those allegations were strongly denied by Geoghegan. “I welcome any county, state, federal agency to come here right now, you can look at anything you want, investigate anything you want. It’s pretty libelous and slanderous statements by the mayor, I feel,” he said. Rodrick tells News 12 the township hired 17 new EMTS and has put additional ambulances on the road, including one stationed right across the street from Silverton’s headquarters. He also says the increase in staff and ambulances will prevent any interruption in EMS services. “This is an organization that handles about 3,300 calls a year, we just want to take care of our Silverton neighborhood,” added Geoghegan. Geoghegan, a former councilman who lost another run at council during June’s primary, believes the allegations stem from personal political battles between himself and the mayor. “We will exhaust all possible remedies as I said this is nothing more than Mayor Rodrick being vindictive, spiteful, towards Chief Little, the police department, towards us, anyone who couldn’t see it coming, well, shame on them,” Geoghegan said. The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office would neither confirm nor deny the existence of a criminal investigation. "