The Facebook page called “Mount Holly News”, which has 2,800 followers, is published by Jason R. Carty.

Mr. Carty does not reveal his administrator status and Facebook does not require public transparency. The arduous path to discovering his ownership requires considerable sleuthing. The Reporter has testimony of people who have first-hand knowledge of Carty’s publishing control over Mount Holly News and from others who have made careful observation of his writing style and his post content which often mirror content he allows to be associated with his name. Its him.

WHY DOES IT MATTER ?

It matters because a publication with 2,800 followers can have significant influence over public debate, especially in a town with elections that turn out less than 5,000 votes on a good day. It matters because some content in the Mount Holly News is demonstrably false, such as a libelous charge Mount Holly News made against former Fire Commissioner Joseph Sams. And it matters because followers of Mount Holly News deserve the transparency of knowing who is trying to influence them.

LOCAL STRATEGIES

Besides owning a communication platform known as Mount Holly News, Mr. Carty owns a political consulting operation known as Local Strategies. The Election Law Enforcement Commission publishes payments made by campaigns to Local Strategies LLC in various elections. Carty is excellent at running political campaigns for his customers: setting design, content and timing of some startlingly effective mail pieces. The Mount Holly Reporter does not indicate that the “negative” mailer displayed here is true. But it is an example of Carty’s work. This is another reason why people should be concerned about Carty’s anonymity at Mount Holly News.

THE LATEST CAMPAIGN

Mount Holly News published a 9/8/26 post which pointedly left Mount Holly Fire Department out of any credit for its response to an apartment fire on High Street. Residents need to know that MHFD did arrive on the scene essentially simultaneously with other local departments and was part of the team providing services in that fire. The Reporter has more to say below about MHFD’s efforts to rebuild its forces and response statistics.

When a publication regularly fails to provide any reporting of positive work by an organization, readers can safely conclude that the publication is engaged in a political campaign to drive negative perceptions.

THE FIVE-YEAR PLAN

The Mount Holly Reporter believes that people can best make up their minds about which arguments hold water when they have more information, not less. Our mission as a 501(c)4 non-profit is to shed light into the government and civic life of Mount Holly. To that end, we present below the full “Strategic Plan” for MHFD which was authored by Chief Tom Mason during 2024.

During 2024, the New Jersey Division of Fire Safety [ see https://www.nj.gov/dca/dfs/ ]was singularly focused on the struggling Mount Holly Fire District which had inadequate response to fire calls. Those bad response statistics followed decades of decline and aligned with national trends for volunteer departments as modern economies saw people take work far from their homes. There were also circumstances specific to Mount Holly which hurt volunteer census as some members quit rather than accept fire company mergers into a single force at the Relief Fire House.

Regardless of the causes, the State of New Jersey was giving the MHFD an ultimatum: produce an acceptable plan of improvement or face a shut-down and requirements to provide fire services via financial agreements with other departments. And so, with a tight deadline, the “Strategic Plan 2024 – 2029” was presented to the State.

The Division of Fire Safety found that plan acceptable and Mount Holly Fire District was given a reprieve. The Fire District was faced with implementing the plan to improve or be forced into relationships with nearby fire districts at a significant cost.

DEVIL’S IN THE DETAILS

Just as the Five Year Plan emerged, the Fire District was in the process of selecting a new Director of Fire Services, which turned out to be Jason R. Carty during March of 2025. And so it was Carty who would interpret the critical language found on page 4 of the plan [see below].

“Develop incentive duty crew programs for tenured and new membership.”

The plan was designed with a duty crew program that offered limited paid shifts as an “incentive” to volunteers who would also have to provide unpaid hours to the district. But Director Carty did not see it that way and instead implemented a Duty Crew program with no requirement to work volunteer hours.

So without the volunteer hours requirement, responses to calls for service would stretch only as far there was money to provide paid shifts. While that attracted professional firefighters from distant towns and improved response at the Fire District, it was only a partial solution and came at the expense of volunteer hours which could be gathered if the program were aimed at local people.

With the departure of Carty, the program has been redesigned to align with the original vision of required volunteer hours. This caused the professional firefighters from remote communities to depart. But the District has attracted 18 new members, which is more than was lost when the new program was implemented. The program is not yet fully developed and new staff must be trained, but it is likely that significant improvement will arrive in the coming months. The Reporter will inquire whether the new program is paying off and whether the State of New Jersey is satisfied with the progress. Stay tuned.

At the August 10, 2026 meeting of Town Council, Mayor Banks was reminded of his own words in early 2024 regarding speeding: “there’s a lot of speeding all throughout town” and “literally someone nearly ran me over walking into the building today”.

In the public comment section of the meeting, The Reporter said that a draft ordinance had been transmitted to Council to reduce the speed limit on the municipally owned section of Garden Street from 30 MPH to 25 MPH. The township solicitor stated that an ordinance cannot be passed without an engineering study that demonstrates a speed reduction is justified.

After the meeting, Mayor Banks told The Reporter that he believed a speed reduction on just the municipal part of Garden Street “did not make sense” and would invite legal challenges. Banks suggested that a more sensible approach was to convince the County that the entire length of Rancocas Road from the Bypass to High Street should be a 25 MPH zone.

Since Bank’s suggestion would require that the County conduct its own engineering traffic study along the noted section of Rancocas Road, The Reporter wrote to County Commissioner Pullion suggesting that a study be conducted. Pullion responded that the County was willing to consider it, but could not launch a study on the basis of a single resident request. Pullion suggested that the Mayor or an administrator with the town contact the County’s engineer and set up a meeting to discuss it.

Mr. Mayor, the ball is back in your court. If you don’t believe the township should just attempt to reduce the speed limit on its own road and think it is more sensible to convince the County to undertake that effort on Rancocas Road, please reach out to the County Engineer.

Readers will recall that my first experience with the Virtua ER “overnight shift” during August 2026 ended with me leaving the ER after 3.5 hours when it became obvious that a doctor would not evaluate me anytime before sunrise.

My second experience in August 2026 was to accompany my wife during her visit which ended after 8 hours with a successful treatment of an infected tooth. Thank you Virtua.

During both visits I was struck by the number of people who were waiting hours for treatment in chairs and on gurneys in the hallway or in rooms. Some of whom were speaking up loudly about not getting service. If I was able to obtain official word from Virtua on challenges and staffing strategy for the ER overnight shift, perhaps the long waits would make sense. But my emails and certified mail to the people in charge have gone unanswered, and it seems that Virtua and its third party vendor, “Team Health”, are not about to provide any information about the ER.

So I will rely on the words of 2 doctors and a nurse who served there when I say that the Virtua ER appears to schedule only 1 doctor for the overnight shift. I admit my lack of professional hospital administrator skill but it appears that physician staffing is a main culprit in the long waits.

I specifically put this question to the President of Virtua, John Kirby. Mr. Kirby has not yet answered. I also put the staffing question to Mr. Guilford and Dr. Owen of Team Health, and await answers from them.

If you go to the following web page you will find that Virtua identifies “Team Health” as a “Hospital Based Physician Group” in the emergency department. See https://www.virtua.org/Patients-and-Visitors/Health-Insurance/Hospital-Based-Physician-Groups

The arrival of third party physician groups running emergency departments is a national trend. According to “kffhealthnews”, these medical staffing companies are often owned by private equity investors and as a matter of policy employ fewer doctors in the ERs they staff as a cost-saving initiative to increase earnings.

See https://kffhealthnews.org/health-care-costs/doctors-are-disappearing-from-emergency-rooms-as-hospitals-look-to-cut-costs/

For the second time in less than a year, a Superior Court judge in Burlington County has ruled that the hiring of Jason R. Carty as Fire Director was illegal. Consequently his employment has again been ruled “void” from its start. As a result, the paid leave which Mr. Carty has collected since November of 2025 has finally reached its end.

Attorney Mike Rothmel gave the following statement

“In my opinion, Nicole Saucier purposely delayed the provision of an agenda so that it coincided with Commissioner Rosemarie Logue’s vacation because Saucier did not want Logue attending the meeting. This is supported at page 3 of Judge Cook’s statement of reason where he notes that adequate notice requires that an agenda, to the extent known, be included in the meeting notice at least 48 hours before the meeting. Cook found that agenda was known on September 15th but not provided until September 18th, only 16.5 hours before the meeting.”

Also reached for comment, Commissioner candidate Gary Brotz said that “Today’s court ruling, which has removed Jason Carty as Director for a second time, follows a previous ruling that nullified June Gaskill’s unethical vote to hire Carty in 2025. This kind of malfeasance is exactly why Rosemarie Logue and I have entered the race for Fire Commissioner.”

RECENT FIRE DEPARTMENT HISTORY

Mr. Carty acquired the Director of Fire Services job as the Fire District struggled to maintain its 275 year status as a volunteer organization. In March of 2025 when Carty was first hired, the number of volunteers was at a low point with no relief in sight.

The Reporter investigated reasons for the decline in firefighter census. One fire fighter said his decision to severely cut back participation was due to the likelihood of getting publicly criticized. “I’ll do work, but nothing extra. Because, WHY? If I am not in favor, I will just get trashed on Facebook”.

Mr. Carty published Fire District statistics on his Facebook page called “Mount Holly News”, regarding the District’s inability to answer even 15% of fire calls. Those stats suggested that a personnel crisis was at hand and that change was needed.

As Director, Carty began to nudge the District away from its all volunteer roots and towards a paid “duty crew”. His paid shift model did not require volunteer hours and relied heavily on professional firefighter colleagues from distant communities like Ewing, where Carty served as a professional fire fighter since 2018.

The Reporter acquired text threads which showed an out-of-town duty crew member stating that he would only work paid shifts. Supporters of the old duty crew model cited improved response statistics, but those same people avoided an obvious tilt toward a full-time paid professional fire department. Estimates for a paid fire department depend on how it is staffed, but could cost upwards of $2,500,000 which works out to about $700 annually to an average Mount Holly household.

A full time professional fire department seems to be less likely now that Carty’s tenure is receding into the past. The Fire District has been shoring up its status as a volunteer fire department once again. Over the last months, Fire Chief Tom Mason has instituted a new duty crew program with requires that volunteer hours be worked. This has resulted in the recruitment of 15 new members.

Mr. Rossell is a candidate for Fire Commissioner in November’s election.

Captain Rob Allen, who visited the accident scene after the collision is heard on the police body camera saying that Rossell would be “coming off the drivers list”. Allen asked a firefighter on the scene if any warning had been given to Rossell about the impending collision. The firefighter replied that he told Rossell ‘I don’t think you’re going to make that’” The police video also records Allen examining the position of the fire truck relative to the damaged vehicle and the maneuvering space in the alley [See image below]. After examining the scenario, Allen can be heard to say “I don’t know why in the world he ran over to this side”.

The collision was not the only issue involving Engine 5012 that day. According to the body camera footage, Rossell acknowledged to the investigating police officer that the fire engine did not have a valid registration.

George Gaskill, who is also a candidate for Fire Commissioner in this year’s election, has the responsibility of “Chief Apparatus Officer” for the Fire District which includes a responsibility for maintaining documentation. Just three days before the accident, Gaskill indicated that the vehicle was fit for service despite the fact that it lacked a valid registration.

Relative to the Mount Holly police concluding that Rossell failed to observe a parked vehicle while operating the Fire District Engine, The Reporter found a publicly available record which revealed that the Westampton police made a similar observation about Rossell’s driving during 2004 when he was found guilty of careless driving.

On Monday August 10, 2026, the scandal-prone saga that is Jason Carty’s tenure at the Fire District produced new headlines across the state. The latest involves charges from Burlington County Prosecutor LaChia L. Bradshaw: “Lumberton Township Committeewoman Gina LaPlaca and her husband Jason Carty have been charged with fraudulently placing LaPlaca on the Democratic primary ballot in the June 2026 Lumberton Township Committee race.”

Mr. Carty will eventually have his day in court on these new charges and perhaps on other charges leveled at him. But there is no reason that the Mount Holly Fire District should wait to terminate Mr. Carty as was recommended by personnel investigator Parker McKay.

The actions of Commissioners Gaskill and Saucier have made it clear that they will never fire Carty. But current Commission Chair Jules Thiessen seems to be on the fence. He claimed at a Fire District meeting that he cannot vote to fire Carty because the Parker McKay attorneys agreed he was “conflicted”. But that conflict was for a close political relationship which would taint any Thiessen vote that gives a benefit to Carty. If Thiessen voted against Carty’s interests and eliminated a benefit, the conflict would no longer apply.

And so a question lingers: What will it take for Jules Thiessen to finally do what his attorney’s recommended? Every pay period Carty remains as a suspended employee is more taxpayer money being paid out for no benefit to the public.

On August 3, 2026, while traveling west on Rte 537 in Springfield, an America Squad box ambulance was involved in an accident with another vehicle. The ambulance left the road and squarely hit a telephone pole.

The press release from Chief Tim Young states that the “ambulance was involved in a motor vehicle collision while transporting a patient to a local hospital. The two EMTs staffing the ambulance, an EMT student riding with the crew, the patient being transported, and the driver of the other vehicle were all taken to a local hospital for evaluation. All reported injuries were non-life-threatening.”

Chief Young stated that “The Squad remains operational, 24/7”.

At its webpage, America Emergency Squad states that it maintain two Type III box ambulances, two support vehicles, and a team of 16 paid staff and 17 volunteers while handling over 3,000 calls for service each year. The Squad has served as Mount Holly Township’s primary prehospital emergency medical provider since its inception.

Below is a picture of the other vehicle involved in the accident.

Summary: I leave the trash cart on the sidewalk because there is no room on Garden street, but IWS staff leave it in the lane of traffic where it got hit by car. This caused the cart to get damaged. Wheeled trash carts cost about $100 at Lowes. I explained this to the IWS employee who removes trash. He responded that he was instructed that he does not have to place the cart back on the sidewalk.

I complained to IWS about this problem since 2025, and last month I even spoke with an IWS rep who said they would “get the attention” of the employee. Nothing changed.

In my last complaint, I copied the entire chain of command at IWS, including the man who signed the trash hauling contract with Mount Holly. I promised that I would get a copy of the contract and find whatever language is in there which could be used to induce IWS to do the job better.

I now have the contract which says that for $1.4 million over 3 years, IWS will collect the trash with “due skill and diligence”. It is my opinion that leaving the trash cart in the street where it is likely to get hit by cars is not “due skill and diligence”.

Today I emailed the township manager Josh Brown to inquire with IWS about their policy on returning trash carts to the place where the resident left them. Is it true that IWS has a policy of not having to return the cart to the place where the resident left it?

Here is the most recent apologetic email from IWS.

The email went on to promise that the problem will be solved. So we shall see if IWS’s promises are fulfilled this time. I will follow up on this story.

Here is the contact if you also have difficulties with IWS service. If you do have problems with their service, let me know how at nick.sodano@verizon.net how IWS handles it.

Interstate Waste Services, Inc.
300 Frank W Burr Blvd, Teaneck, NJ 07666
T: 1-866-DIAL-IWS | E: KCordero@interstatewaste.com

During the summer of my 68th year I received an offer I could not refuse: tour medical facilities that treat coronary artery decease -Now.

When you get that kind of offer from the Boss, you do as you’re told.

And so, on July 7th, 2026, I visited the Penn Tower in Philly where a group of medical magicians re-arranged my arterial plumbing and saved my life. I am grateful.

And once you have experienced the well oiled machine that is Penn Medicine, the Virtua Emergency Room seems to be … in need of resources?

To that end, I want to tell you about my visit to the Virtua Emergency Room [ER] on July 29, 2026. But before we go there, lets zoom out and examine what is known about ER’s all over America.

According to “Return On Information — New Jersey” [ROI-NJ.com], the national average emergency room wait time was 2 hours and 42 minutes in 2024, with some hospitals exceeding a 9 hour wait. The longest wait times in New Jersey range from 3 to 5 hours.

THE FOUNDATIONAL PROBLEM: STAFFING RATIOS

Lets revisit the recent dispute that Virtua had with its nursing staff. Just before I received the news that I must undergo surgery, I covered the nurse’s strike story at Virtua. I spoke with a nurse who participated in the demonstrations in Mount Holly. She was very angry about staffing problems and was initially willing to speak on the record. She gave me very specific information. I warned that providing info like that would lead to her identity being discovered even if I withheld her name. Her instinct to keep her job trumped her anger and I did not report what she told me.

But there were others with similar stories. I spoke to a professional who said the undersized staff experience drove her and others she knew out of hospitals. COVID was the event that precipitated her departure, but she said the staffing problem did not start with COVID and has persisted long after the pandemic.

"Nurses have been choosing to leave hospitals due to stressful and unsafe working conditions, including poor staffing.” HPAE President Debbie White, RN

The good news is that the Health Professionals and Allied Employees union (HPAE), won contractually enforceable staffing ratios in many of the Virtua units such as

• Critical Care – 1:2

• Med/Surg – 1:5

• Progressive Care Unit (Step Down)– 1:4

• Behavioral Health – 1:6

Unfortunately, the Emergency Department and Maternal Child Health units did not get enforceable ratios in the contract.

Every medical professional I have spoken with including doctors and nurses have uniformly said that staffing problems leave hospitals in a position of struggling with patient census.

NON-EMERGENCIES AT THE ER

The other half of the staffing ratio problem is the number of people who visit an ER who are not actually experiencing a medical emergency. Some of these people do not have medical insurance and use ER’s as the most accessible way of getting medical attention. Others [like me] find themselves in a situation where an issue arises at a time when they cannot contact their doctor. Since they do not have the medical expertise to distinguish an urgent issue from an emergency, they err on the side of caution and go.

EMERGENCY ROOM HALLWAY CHOKED WITH PATIENTS

Last Wednesday, July 29th 2026, I noticed what looked like an infection at my calf surgery incision. This issue arose at 12 AM when a call to the to the Penn surgical team that is still covering me was not possible. Not wanting to give an infection a 10 hour head start, I decided to visit Virtua ER. I figured they could give me an antibiotic and send me home. That was not to be.

I sat in the waiting room for two-plus hours and watched EVERY other triaged patient get admitted to the back. Mercifully, the ER staff finally called my name some time around 3 AM and I left the waiting room completely empty.

Looking back on it, the only seemingly plausible theory Google AI offered to explain why ER staff might want to move all triaged patients from the waiting room, past the triage desk and into the back was so doctors and nurses could more closely monitor them.

But Virtua is not like the fictional open floor plan in “The Pitt” medical show. Virtua’s ER halls are walled off and on this night were choked with patients in chairs and laying on gurneys with blankets draped around them. It also did not resemble “The Pitt” in terms of having lots of visible medical staff. Staff on the floor seemed to be a scarce resource.

During the half hour or so that I sat waiting for attention, I saw only one Virtua staff member circulate amongst the patients. She made a tricky zig-zag maneuver of a patient on a gurney through the crowded ER hallway.

A LACONIC RESPONSE

I get the brutal logic of Triage: “do the worst first”. That’s how I knew that being called last meant my case was ranked as a low triage priority.

I noticed three staff staring at monitors behind their COVID-era transparent barrier. No staff addressed the patient throng as a group or came to us individually to explain what was happening or how long we might wait.

One patient in the hallway who I recognized from the waiting room got up to announce he was leaving. A staff member called out from behind the COVID barrier saying it would be a shame to have waited all this time only to leave before you got service. The person sat down.

At some point beyond my third hour I reckoned that Virtua would not get to me before the sun rose on Thursday. So I decided to cut my losses, take my chances with a possible infection and get some sleep at home.

I stood up and approached the COVID glass barrier saying to the staff that I can’t wait any longer. I vainly hoped a staff member might tell me that help was on the way.

They said nothing.

Once I exited the ER, I passed through the now empty waiting room and saw the nurse who triaged me over 3 hours earlier. He was having a meal and looked at me dispassionately. I said that I couldn’t wait any longer. He diverted his gaze and said laconically, “Busy night”.

THE QUESTION REMAINS

I don’t have the census data on Virtua’s ER. But my wife accompanied me on this adventure and recalled her visit to the same ER early in the year. She said it was way busier on that previous night.

Based on the comments [mentioned above] from nurses during what I call “the Strike”, I know that many medical professionals are disgusted with a lack of staff and that this has driven many of them out of the hospitals.

However, the impression I got from the ER staff was that they have accepted hours upon hours of waiting for medical care as the natural order of things.

So, was the number of patients more than usual or was the number of medical staff less than usual, or both? If any nurses or doctors want to tell me, please feel free to contact me at nick.sodano@verizon.net.

An accident occurred near the corner of Garden and Buttonwood Streets on Saturday August 1, 2026. The driver was the only person in the car. The vehicle hit a tree on the westbound side of Garden Street causing the car to become airborne and flip over onto its hood, coming to rest at the intersection.

The driver was arrested for DUI.

Sendzik had been with the Fire District for years and her letter made clear that the “fragmented” Board problem had arisen “recently”. And so, The Reporter asked Ms. Sendzik to be specific as to whether one or another Commissioner was at fault. Sendzik did not respond.

Since then, the District has cycled through another four counselors, with the most recent being Dom Rota, of Malamut Law. Readers will recall that even the selection of Malamut arrived with a controversy since there was a “bid spoiling” incident. Commissioner Saucier opened just the Malamut bid, causing the entire process to be redone.

Commission Chair Thiessen ruled that the incident was just an administrative mistake.

Like any good mystery, there are rumors circulating. Rumors about administrative conflicts that may have driven a counselor to distraction. For instance, a long-time company member was banned from entering the building due to a charge that was dismissed, but that decision is still somehow not resolved by the Fire District. Then there is the ongoing administrative chaos created by a suspended Director, which delays business because part-time Commissioner Thiessen has been “temporarily” in charge for the last 7 months, which holds up decision making.

Obviously the answer is to appoint a new Director, but as readers will recall, that position is in limbo because the Board has been unable to fire Director Carty [who remains suspended with pay] even though a special counselor determined that he should be terminated.

The Reporter is aware of other administrative problems, some of which were disclosed by Mr. Young in his “safety report” [see SAFETY CONCERNS AT FIRE DISTRICT RESURFACE]. When you take all of these administrative SNAFUs in aggregate, it would seem to provide enough centrifugal force to eject even the most determined counselor.

But that is speculation, so I contacted Mr. Rota in hopes of at least getting a generalized description of what drove him out. Unfortunately for our purposes here, Mr. Rota refused to tell tales that would compromise his legal responsibility to keep advice confidential.

For a moment I thought that the resignation letter provided a hidden clue. Mr. Rota made an oblique reference to a reason that might provide better understanding.

He said “the Firm [must] preserve the confidentiality of attorney-client communications and other protected information. AND FOR THAT REASON, it would be inappropriate to elaborate further on the circumstances giving rise to this withdrawal.”

Why would an attorney refuse to tell his own clients why he resigned? Was there some OTHER client who had a matter before the Board which produced a conflict of interest? Or perhaps Malamut represented a Commissioner as a private client which somehow got cross-wise with Board business? There are other permutations of these questions which might provide insight.

But Mr. Rota wrote back to the Reporter to say that neither of the possibilities I asked about were true.

And so, at least for now, this mystery remains unsolved.

Solicitor Resignation: The board’s attorney Dom Rota from Malamute law resigned effective immediately. Chairman Thiessen reported receiving a text notification from Rota followed by a brief call where the attorney said that the reasons for the resignation are “water under the bridge”. The Reporter pressed Chairman Thiessen for some details as to why the Solicitor resigned but he said he had nothing to share on that count. The Reporter has requested a copy of the resignation letter.

Financial Audit Review The board’s auditor presented the 2026 audit. • Internal Controls: No material weaknesses or deficiencies were identified. • Budget Compliance: The district remained within its total budget constraints, though a finding was noted regarding the 2025 purchase of two vehicles without proper prior budgeting. • Capital Reserves: The district holds $150,000 in undesignated capital and $60,000 earmarked for an AV system. These funds require specific resolutions before they can be utilized for new purchases, such as a down payment on a fire truck. • 2027 Budget Cycle: Planning must begin in September due to stricter DCA oversight and the retirement of key state personnel.

• Security Audit: A review of building access revealed 47 individuals with active key fobs who are no longer associated with the district. These fobs will be deactivated. Moving forward, all commissioners will have uniform access to all rooms.

Operational & Chief’s Report • Apparatus Replacement: The Chief warned that the current engines are 21–22 years old. Given a 3-year lead time for delivery, he recommended forming a committee immediately to spec a new engine (estimated cost: $900k–$1.1M). He suggested a 5-year staggered replacement plan for the second engine rather than replacing both simultaneously.

• Shared Services Friction: A fit test machine, which was supposed to be stored on-site per a shared service agreement with the MUA, was removed without authorization. The board is seeking its immediate return.

THE REPORT

On January 7, 2026, Mr. Tim Young supplied a safety report to the Chair and Vice Chair of the Fire District Board of Commissioners. The report said fractious behavior on the Board and failures to process Standard Operating Procedure and Personnel updates were causing problems on the operational side of the Fire District. Young waited for months in hopes that Commissioners would address concerns in his safety report. But when no one on the Board reached out to him to discuss those problems, he concluded that continuing as Safety Officer was tacit consent for the lack of action. And so, on May 16^th 2026, Mr. Young resigned his position as Safety Officer at the Mount Holly Fire District [see reprinted letter below].

As prescient as Mr. Young’s safety report seems to be, it suffers from a lack of specificity with respect to individuals at blame.

“My concerns were with the Board of Fire Commissioners as the governing body: failure to follow its own policies, failure to properly review safety reports, failure to maintain clear operational authority, and repeated interference or confusion between governance and operations.”

Tim Young

Young’s valid concerns deserved the Board’s attention, but when The Reporter pressed him for more context about who was responsible for the personnel issues he called out, he responded that “I don’t have much insight into your follow up”. When The Reporter observed that his report needed context to be more useful, he responded that he had become “uninterested in assisting” with an exploration of the details.

And so, the Reporter will attempt provide clarifying context without the aid of Mr. Young.

WHAT HAPPENED?

On January 7, 2026, newly elected Fire Commissioner Jules Thiessen was settling into his seat as Chairman of Mt. Holly Fire District. The outgoing Chair Nicole Saucier, who was also the person in charge of the Personnel and Policy Committee during 2025, had just been elected Vice Chair of the Commission.

Jules and Nicole were the only two commissioners who received Mr. Young’s safety report that day by email.

The report was not forwarded to Commissioners Rosemarie Logue or Jeena Sheppard.

To be fair to Thiessen, the report arrived on what was essentially his first day and at a moment when the Board was consumed by chaotic events and battles. First came the lawyer resignations. Then came a roller coaster of accusations that a new lawyer found by Thiessen was a “pay to play” hire. Next came a misfeasance scandal when Commissioner Saucier opened a lawyer bid without authorization, “spoiling” the whole bidding process and forcing it to be rebid. And then the high drama a months-long personnel investigation that concluded with a legal recommendation to terminate suspended Director Jason Carty. The recommendation was not heeded. Thiessen and 2 other commissioners were deemed to have conflicts of interest that prevented them from voting, and the remaining Commissioners had a tie vote. As a result, Carty remains on indefinite paid administrative leave. And to top off this chaos, Carty’s interminable suspension meant that Mr. Thiessen had to continue shouldering the Fire Director’s duties on the operational side of the district. Thiessen has just passed his 6^th month as “temporary” Fire Director.

True, Mr. Thiessen sought the office and accepted the responsibilities of being Chair, so the report was his to review and act upon. But no one should deny that Mr. Young’s critique of the Commission came at a particularly distracted time for Thiessen.

But what of his Vice Chair Saucier? She no longer had to deal with the Fire Director duties or the Policy and Personnel Committee that she shouldered during late 2025. And yet apparently one of her first decisions as Vice Chair was to withhold Mr. Young’s safety report from her fellow commissioners Logue and Sheppard.

“That report was neither meaningfully reviewed nor acted upon. It was not formally accepted, discussed, or resolved at that meeting or any meeting since. No corrective action has been taken. No urgency has been demonstrated. No accountability has been shown.” Tim Young resignation letter

The content of Young’s critique in his resignation letter is correct, but the generic application of blame to “the Board” was inappropriate. It should be placed at the feet of the people who actually were in receipt of this report: Jules Thiessen and Nicole Saucier. They were the only Commissioners that Young notified.

Likewise with regard to the “officer appointment” issues Young mentioned in his safety report, authority over personnel and policy was in the hands of Commissioner Nicole Saucier and June Gaskill during the period of time he addressed.

Much of the fractiousness Young complains of at Board meetings were the result of disputes between the Saucier/Gaskill duo versus Rosemarie Logue and Jeena Sheppard who complained about poor communication.

But complain as they might, they could not overcome the 3-2 vote deficit they faced at every Fire District meeting. It was not until Mr. Thiessen arrived that Ms. Logue and Ms. Sheppard began to receive a modicum of respect with regard to hearing their perspectives.

Mr. Young’s reports were accurate in their description of problem areas. It is a shame that Logue and Sheppard were not appraised of his concerns prior to his resignation in May. Perhaps they could have joined with Thiessen to get the long awaited action sought by Mr. Young.

RESIGNATION LETTER

Board of Fire Commissioners

Mount Holly Fire District No. 1

May 16, 2026

To The Board

Effective May 17, 2026, I am resigning from my position as Department Safety Officer and as a member of Mount Holly Fire District No. 1.

This decision is not abrupt. It is the result of months of inaction, disregard, and a complete failure to address documented safety concerns that were formally presented to this Board. My January report outlined significant and escalating risks, including breakdown of command structure, lack of approved SOPs/SOGs, improper officer appointment processes, and deteriorating morale impacting operational readiness. These were not minor issues. They were, and remain, direct threats to firefighter safety and organizational stability.

That report was neither meaningfully reviewed nor acted upon. It was not formally accepted, discussed, or resolved at that meeting or any meeting since. No corrective action has been taken. No urgency has been demonstrated. No accountability has been shown.

At this point, continuing in the role of Safety Officer would require me to knowingly maintain responsibility for risks that are outside of my control and clearly being ignored at the governance level. I am not willing to carry that liability.

I fully believe that if current conditions persist, a serious injury or line-of-duty death is not a remote possibility, but an eventual outcome. The contributing factors have already been identified, documented, and communicated. The failure to act is no longer an oversight, it is a choice.

Since my acceptance into this department on November 10, 2014, I have observed a consistent pattern: persistent complaints about problems, paired with a complete unwillingness to fix them. I can no longer be part of an organization that operates this way, especially when the consequences are measured in firefighter safety.

All issued uniforms and keys have been left at the Safety Officer desk. A flash drive containing all of my files has also been left on that desk.

I currently host the credential pages associated with firefighter ID badges. I will continue to host these pages temporarily; however, they will no longer be updated. The District must develop and implement an alternative system. These pages will be permanently deleted at a later date, not to exceed one year from my resignation. This letter serves as formal notice of my resignation from all roles within the District.

Tim Young Department Safety Officer (Resigned)

JANUARY SAFETY REPORT

For: December 2025
Prepared: January 5, 2026

Coordinated with Extinguisher Services for fire extinguisher annual servicing. All extinguishers and hood system have been serviced for 2026. Reports forwarded to Chair and Vice Chair.

Safety Concerns a Safety Officer Can’t Fix
Antagonistic Conduct by Fire Commissioners

Board members have repeatedly engaged in unprofessional conduct during public meetings and within the firehouse. In one instance, a Commissioner stood up with fists clenched in a posture suggesting readiness for a physical altercation with another Commissioner. In another instance, a Commissioner was observed providing incorrect operational direction to on duty officers and firefighters, resulting in a verbal confrontation that concluded with the statement, “I’m a Commissioner, so you have to do what I say.”

This behavior creates confusion, undermines officer authority, and has had a direct negative impact on volunteer morale.

Breakdown of Chain of Command

There is no clearly defined or communicated chain of command. The department currently has no appointed Chief, and there has been no public or internal communication regarding who will assume that role. The current Acting Chief is known to be slated for demotion, which has significantly eroded respect for their authority. Additionally, individuals expected to become future line officers are acting in those roles without formal appointment by the Board of Fire Commissioners. As a result, firefighters are seeking direction from individuals who do not officially hold command authority, by-passing the established chain of command. On at least one occasion, this confusion contributed to firefighters walking off the job.

There is also no designated Training Officer. Volunteers do not know who has authority to approve training, education, or certifications, creating delays and discouraging participation.

1 of 3

Lack of Approved and Clearly Defined SOPs/SOGs

Standard Operating Procedures and Standard Operating Guidelines are essential to firefighter safety and operational consistency. The District’s SOPs and SOGs are currently disorganized, with no clear indication of which versions are in effect. Multiple draft SOPs and SOGs have been submitted to the Director over the past year, yet none have been presented to the Board for review or approval.
The Board has not substantively addressed operational SOPs or SOGs outside of Board specific policies. This lack of formally adopted guidance exposes members to unnecessary risk and places officers in an untenable position when attempting to enforce procedures that may not be officially in effect.

Inference of Systemic Noncompliance in Officer Appointment Procedures

To date, no procedure outlined by the Board for officer appointments has been followed with respect to my own position. I have not been interviewed, consulted, or formally evaluated despite the Safety Officer role being directly implicated in operational risk and regulatory compliance.

Given that the same appointment process was used for other anticipated line officer positions, and that the Board has already acknowledged procedural failures requiring interviews to be redone, it is reasonable to conclude that required procedures may not have been consistently followed for other appointments as well. This raises concerns regarding the legitimacy of pending appointments and further contributes to uncertainty within the chain of command and overall departmental stability.

Deterioration of Firefighter Morale and Resulting Operational Impact

Firefighter morale has measurably declined. Multiple members have stated that they submitted no availability for January scheduling in order to avoid the firehouse environment until leadership and governance issues are resolved. These decisions were described as intentional rather than the result of routine scheduling conflicts.

Contributing factors include repeated instances of non-officer personnel providing incorrect operational direction to on-duty officers and firefighters, followed by confrontational exchanges. In addition, directives issued by current command staff have been disregarded by some members due to a perceived lack of authority, stemming from the absence of a formally appointed officer position for that role during the current year.

2 of 3

This environment has resulted in reduced availability, diminished confidence in leadership, and erosion of command authority. These conditions negatively affect staffing reliability, training participation, and emergency response readiness, and represent a safety concern that cannot be mitigated by the Safety Officer alone. Corrective action at the Board level is required.

Closing Statement

The conditions described above represent a cumulative and escalating safety risk. Leadership instability, failure to follow Board-adopted policy, breakdown of the chain of command, lack of approved operational SOPs/SOGs, and declining firefighter morale are not abstract concerns. They directly affect decision making, staffing, training, and emergency response performance.

If these conditions are allowed to persist, it is not a question of whether a serious injury or line-of-duty death could occur, but when. These risks are foreseeable, documented, and preventable.

As Department Safety Officer, I am formally advising that corrective action at the Board level is required. Failure to act places responsibility for the resulting risk squarely outside the authority and control of the Safety Officer.

Tim Young
Department Safety Officer

A GRIM WARNING

As May 6^th, 2026 dawned, Mount Holly Township faced two vexing but unrelated issues:

A. A hidden police department letter issued a grim July 4^th safety warning to the Township Manager

B. Council members were deadlocked in a budget debate as the state budget deadline loomed.

The Police Benevolent Association [PBA] letter was delivered to the Township Manager on May 6^th. It said there was no realistic way to make the July 4th celebration safe and bluntly said that despite “repeated communication” that the event was “unpredictable and increasingly difficult” to control, “meaningful corrective action has not been taken.” The letter went on to say that township “officials” should consider smaller family-oriented celebrations in the daytime such as a parade that would “better serve the Township”.

LOST IN THE CHAIN OF COMMAND

Police Department communications such as the PBA must letter go to the Township Manager who handles all day-to-day operational issues for Mount Holly. It’s the Manager’s responsibility to notify Council of any issue such as public safety. To that end, every month the council meeting features a section called “MATTERS TO BE REPORTED BY TOWNSHIP MANAGER”. Manager Josh Brown routinely passes on this opportunity to provide Council with a report and the meeting of May 20^th was no exception. Even though Brown had the PBA letter since May 6^th.

MANAGER BROWN KICKS THE CAN DOWN THE ROAD

While Manager Josh Brown ostensibly agreed with the PBA’s message about safety and its call for “officials” to consider new celebration options, he withheld it from council members Tara Astor and Kim Burkus. The Reporter reached out to Deputy Mayor DiFolco about what he knew of the letter and when, but Mr. DiFolco chose not to provide any on the record response.

The PBA letter discussed critical safety issues at the July fourth celebration and indicated that Brown had been informed by the police on multiple occasions in prior years regarding serious violence problems at past July 4^th celebrations. But instead of sharing that news with all of Council, Brown instructed the Police Chief to “reach out to the organizers of the event and request it be adjusted” to achieve an “appropriate level of safety”.

Brown essentially ordered the police to arrange a safety fix despite blunt proclamations in the letter that safety could not be fixed since the event had “outgrown the Township’s ability to manage it”. The letter went on to say that even a significantly increased police presence would not solve the problem and further suggested an entirely different model of celebration was necessary to avoid the violence of previous years.

Readers should note that the “organizers of the event” is primarily Deputy Mayor Rich DiFolco, who was appointed by Mr. Brown as the “Events Coordinator”. Mr. DiFolco is an administrator of the Facebook Group called Mount Holly Celebrations, which is a private group.

So, when Mr. Brown asked the Police Chief to coordinate with “the organizers” he was essentially directing the Chief to Deputy Mayor DiFolco.

POLICE REQUEST DIFOLCO MOVE CELEBRATION TO DAYTIME EVENT

The Reporter has received email communications between Chief Spencer and Deputy Mayor DiFolco from May 6^th 2026. The email discussed the PBA letter and Chief Spencer’s request to DiFolco that the July 4^th celebration move “away from a nighttime event” “in light of the recent no-hit shootings we have experienced”. DiFolco stated that he was open to having a conversation but “everything is paid for and the contracts are signed at this point”, so there may be “a need for metal detectors and such” to make the event one that is “done properly and logically”.

It appears that the meeting Spencer requested with DiFolco did take place during the week of May 10^th 2026 and that DiFolco had the PBA letter on May 6^th 2026.

COUNCIL FRUSTRATION BUILDS AS THE BUDGET IS EXAMINED

At the May 20^th, 2026 council meeting, a new reality was in place. The Mayor and Deputy Mayor no longer held a majority of votes. This meant that in order to get the votes to pass a budget, the Mayor and Deputy Mayor had to accommodate suggestions from council members Tara Astor and Kim Burkus.

Together, the two women had researched a variety of budget spending and revenue strategies that they believed would reduce or even eliminate the 9.7% tax hike proposed by Manager Brown.

But Mayor Banks and Deputy Mayor DiFolco made statements demonstrating they did not welcome a long, detailed discussion on how Mount Holly could adjust the budget to save money. They supported a fast vote on the “first reading” of the proposed budget “as is”, keeping its 9.7% tax increase intact.

Since council members Astor and Burkus knew their votes were necessary to pass a budget, they turned the May 20^th meeting into a budget work session. And as they pushed deeper into budget line items that touched on town events, Mount Holly’s “Events Coordinator” Rich DiFolco became increasingly frustrated with the scrutiny and suggestions.

For example, he disagreed with Astor’s suggestion that July 4^th vendors should pay entrance fees just like other events that are not run by the township [like Fire and Ice or the Car Show]. DiFolco stated that imposing those fees would reduce vendor participation by 1/3 or even 1/2.

I’M GONNA CUT ALL THE DAMN EVENTS

It was at this point that Mr. DiFolco stated he was open to suggestions and did not want to curtail town events, but he was nevertheless ready to start canceling things.

“I’m ready… right now I’m gonna cut all the damn events across town. If we can’t afford to pay for it, its done.” Rich DiFolco

One possible interpretation is that DiFolco perhaps misunderstood what Astor and Burkus were suggesting regarding events. Because they did not just request spending cuts, they also suggested revenue enhancements that could fully fund the events.

When the May 20^th budget meeting concluded, the first reading of the budget was approved with about $100,000 in savings and instructions on how police overtime for fireworks could be fully funded. When it came to the July 4^th celebration for Mount Holly, the event had enough funding to go on with the same amount of overtime as originally planned if Township Manager Brown implemented the suggested revenue tactics agreed to at the meeting.

THE BLAME SHIFTING BEGINS

Soon after May 20^th meeting, talk around town began to focus on the budget as the reason fireworks have to be cancelled. That notion was almost entirely based on a fictional version of what was agreed to at the actual township budget meeting.

For instance, at a local drinking venue I was told that Deputy Mayor DiFolco “had to” cancel fireworks because the money for police overtime was cut.

Then came Facebook posts appearing in “Mount Holly NJ 08060” which lamented cuts to police overtime as the cause of fireworks cancellation.

ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS

As the misinformation spread, The Reporter was informed that money to support the fireworks was also available through Main Street Mount Holly and the Urban Enterprise Zone [UEZ]. The UEZ had approved $75,000 per year in event revenue, some of which was specifically earmarked for fireworks. It should be noted that besides being Deputy Mayor and Events Coordinator for Mount Holly, Rich DiFolco is also Chair of the UEZ.

The Reporter has since learned that those funds were not approved because the state had ordered the UEZ to make paperwork modifications some months ago. But that money could be accessed from the state if Mount Holly provides whatever modifications the state requested. Below are the minutes from a UEZ meeting where appropriations for Mt Holly events were approved.

Furthermore, readers should be aware that the Township maintains an annual budget surplus to handle unforeseen obligations. Township Manager Brown has wide discretion to dip into the surplus to handle unforeseen public safety problems.

FIREWORKS CHRONOLOGY

· May 6th 2026 Manager Brown has the PBA letter. The letter says cancel the event.

· May 6th 2026 Brown ignores cancellation language and instructs the Police Chief to coordinate with the event “organizers” Rich DiFolco to make “adjustments”.

· May 6th 2026 Rich DiFolco receives email from Chief Spencer with PBA letter attached indicating that the police believe the fireworks should be cancelled and a daytime parade should take its place.

· May 6th 2026 Rich DiFolco says contracts for fireworks event are signed and discussions have taken place regarding metal detectors to screen people at the event for weapons.

· May 10th 2026 The week of May 10^th 2026 Rich DiFolco meets with Chief Spencer to discuss the PBA letter and July 4^th celebration alternatives.

· May 20th 2026 Council meeting. No report from Manager Brown about the PBA letter or possible cancellation.

· May 20th 2026 Council meeting Rich DiFolco says that if there is not money available for fireworks he is “ready… right now I’m gonna cut all the damn events across town”

· June 14th 2026 Mt Holly Reporter gets the PBA letter via OPRA.

· June 15th 2026 Mt Holly announces fireworks are cancelled

· June 15th 2026 Council member Astor reveals that she and Kim Burkus were not made aware of the letter

· June 21st 2026 Mt Holly Reporter asks Rich DiFolco when he became aware of the PBA letter. No response to date.

· June 22nd 2026 Mt Holly Reporter submits OPRA requests for email between Spencer and DiFolco

· June 29^th 2026 – DiFolco apologizes as council meeting for being “a little bit reactive”.

· June 30th 2026 OPRA response with emails between Spencer and DiFolco is received.

While the cause remains “under investigation”, what is clear is that the heat wave that will visit us through Saturday has driven up demand and put stress on the distribution system. PSE&G believes the power will be restored by 4 AM today.

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I visited the church today to view the facility and have lunch with Community Luncheon Director Jan Delgado and program staff. After introductions to various volunteers, I took a tour of the kitchen facilities, including a row of tall freezers filled with “Food Bank of South Jersey” [FBSJ] meats, fruit and vegetables.

As the 11 AM hour approached, Director Delgado called out “Are We Ready?” until all staff were assembled and lead in a prayer. The happy group served themselves from the buffet line and then gathered round tables to eat and chat just prior to the public serving at 12 PM. The buffet offerings were mashed potatoes, green beans, asparagus, meat balls and chicken breasts. The asparagus was particularly impressive, but everything was quite good.

Ms. Delgado explained that the program started with a realization: some locals didn’t even have a stove to cook a turkey. So, church members were moved to invite community members to a Thanksgiving dinner. The ethos of those early days was “other people are us” and that still serves as the foundation of the lunch program. Delgado says the lunch program “now serves meals to 60 - 80 people every Monday and Friday from 12 – 1pm. Our attendees are not required to provide any identification, but we know all of them by their first names.”

It was former pastor Phil Olson who connected the Presbyterians with the FBSJ about a year after that 1985 Thanksgiving. While other churches and Wawa make donations, Delgado said “The Food Bank of South Jersey delivers about 500 to 900 pounds of food per month, which is the majority of our donations.”

The FBSJ is a 501(c)3 nonprofit which received about $14 million in federal aid in 2024 designated for feeding those in need. It appears that this aid was slashed in 2025. The cuts are not a focus of this article but you can read more about it at the following link FBSJ

Delgado said the Lunch Program uses “frozen chickens, fish, ground beef, pork roasts, chops and vegetables. The Food Bank often offers fresh fruit and vegetables. We definitely have a 4-star soup kitchen which is run by a culinary college trained chef.”

Ms. Delgado noted that the program is “inspected by the Burlington County Health Department and we maintain a satisfactory rating. We are also inspected by the FBSJ to ensure proper food handling. My chef and I are required to attend annual food service and civil rights training sessions at the Food Bank.”

Delgado wants readers to know that if any would like to help, the best way to get involved is to “Come eat with us and chat with our guests. Any Monday or Friday at 12. Also know that we give clothing and toiletries and we’re always looking for donations. If you’re cleaning out your closets, please think of us!”

More information is available at delgadojan1@gmail.com or 609-865-3117.

SUMMARY: The Facebook rumor mill was churning theories about the potential cancelation of fireworks this year. But the cancellation has now been announced on the township webpage. See here And The Reporter dug deep into this story to lay out facts surrounding it. Some of that will be presented in a follow up article, but Part 1 of this story keeps the focus on the primary reason for the cancelation.

A series of blunt public safety pronouncements was issued in a letter issued from the Police Benevolent Association [PBA] and the Mount Holly Chief of Police to the Township Manager. This detailed letter speaks for itself and is published here in full. The letter is undated but was attached to a transmittal email dated May 6th, 2026 from Chief of Police Cliff Spencer.

Readers should note that council member Astor’s first notification of this letter was when The Reporter asked for comment yesterday. She was not aware of the letter.

“Kim and I did not receive a copy of this letter and were unaware of the chief’s safety concerns. It’s very disappointing that the concerns were not brought to our attention, because being notified in a timely way that our police had these issues would have prompted us to have a discussion of potential options for the July 4th celebration.” Tara Astor, Council Member

The response of the Township Manager to the Chief of Police is also reprinted.

The Reporter has taken the liberty of extracting the following parts of the letter below which we believe are key to understand the position of the Police Department.

Italics and CAPS were not from the original.

“…the current fireworks event, by its nature, attendance pattern, crowd behavior, location, and recent history, HAS OUTGROWN THE TOWNSHIP’S ABILITY TO MANAGE IT SAFELY and responsibly under the present format.”

“…the resources necessary to safely manage this event in its current form would FAR EXCEED what has historically been provided.”

“…For that reason, the union is not comfortable representing that this event can be made sufficiently safe SIMPLY BY INCREASING POLICE PRESENCE, ADDING EQUIPMENT or repeating prior operational plans. While additional resources may reduce some risk, they do not address the core concern: the current event model continues to generate conditions that are unsafe, unpredictable, and increasingly difficult to control.”

Original Letter Follows

Dear Mount Holly Township Officials,

On behalf of Burlington County PBA Local #37, and in support of the Mount Holly Police Department Police Officers Association and the Mount Holly Police Department Superior Officers Association, we write to formally express our escalating concerns regarding the safety and overall conditions surrounding the Township’s annual Fourth of July fireworks event in Mount Holly. These concerns are also shared and supported by the Mount Holly Township Police Department Chief of Police.

This letter is not intended as a personal criticism of those who organize, support, or enjoy the event. The officers represented by our union and associations take great pride in actively supporting community events, both in and out of uniform, including events organized on our own time such as the recent Touch-a-Truck event and last summer’s PBA Back-to-School Backpack Drive.

That is exactly why these concerns are being raised. This position is not coming from officers trying to avoid community events; it is coming from officers who help make them happen and who care deeply about ensuring they remain safe, positive, and sustainable. However, that same responsibility requires us to provide an honest assessment based on firsthand experience, documented incidents, current public-safety concerns, and the increasing trend of unsafe conditions.

Background and Purpose

Over the past several years, the level of disorder associated with this event has steadily increased. Each year, the environment has become more chaotic, unpredictable, and increasingly difficult to manage. Based on the pattern observed by officers assigned to this event, we believe meaningful changes are necessary before a participant, bystander, or officer suffers serious injury.

A community event intended to bring people together should not become an event that residents, families, visitors, officers, or assisting agencies view as unsafe or unmanageable. Unfortunately, we have received consistent feedback from residents, visitors, and outside agencies indicating a reluctance to return to Mount Holly for this event due to safety concerns. This reputational impact to the Township should not be overlooked.

Escalating Disorder and Juvenile-Related Incidents

A particularly troubling trend has been the noticeable rise in large, disorderly groups, especially involving juveniles. These gatherings have become more unpredictable and, at times, volatile.

During last year’s fireworks event alone, officers encountered multiple incidents requiring police intervention, including incidents that required the use of force. Officers also responded to violent altercations involving juveniles, including an incident where a child was knocked from a stroller during a fight between teenagers.

These are not isolated or minor disturbances. They reflect a pattern of escalating and dangerous behavior that must be addressed before the event continues in its current form.

Current Public-Safety Climate

These concerns are further heightened by the recent uptick in violence within the Township, including no-hit shootings and other violent incidents that have required significant police response and investigative resources.

While these incidents are separate from the fireworks event itself, they are relevant to the overall public safety environment in which this event is being planned. Large, uncontrolled gatherings require greater caution when they occur during a period of increased violence, heightened community tension, and increased demand on police resources.

Regional Concerns and Comparable Events

This is not an isolated issue unique to Mount Holly. Recent events in neighboring communities have highlighted this growing regional concern. Other nearby communities have been forced to cancel, restrict, or significantly modify public events due to similar safety concerns involving large groups, juvenile disorder, and the need for stronger crowd-control measures.

These examples underscore a broader trend: without proactive planning and substantial safeguards, large public gatherings are increasingly vulnerable to disorder, violence, and serious safety risks.

Operational and Equipment Concerns

These concerns are compounded by current operational limitations, including limited vehicle availability, aging patrol vehicles, increased investigative demands from recent violent incidents, and the lack of adequate crowd-management equipment for an event of this scale.

However, the union’s concern is not limited to staffing or equipment alone. In prior years, the Township has utilized many standard operational safeguards associated with large public events, including police staffing, mutual aid coordination, EMS and fire staging, communication planning, designated command structure, ingress and egress planning, emergency access considerations, and other operational controls. Despite those efforts, the event has continued to present serious disorder, crowd management issues, and officer-safety concerns.

As a result, the union does not believe this is simply a matter of adding another layer of planning to the

existing model. The concern is that the current fireworks event, by its nature, attendance pattern, crowd behavior, location, and recent history, has outgrown the Township’s ability to manage it safely and responsibly under the present format.

Requested Review and Corrective Action

Despite the Chief of Police and police administration repeatedly communicating these concerns, meaningful corrective action has not been taken. At this point, we respectfully request that the Township conduct a formal after-action review of prior fireworks including police reports, CAD data, calls for service, arrests, use-of-force documentation, mutual aid needs, EMS responses, body-worn camera footage, and officer safety concerns.

That review should also account for the Township’s current public-safety climate, including the recent increase in violent incidents and the impact those incidents have had on staffing, investigative workload, and operational readiness. These materials would provide an objective and unfiltered understanding of the conditions officers have been required to manage.

We are cognizant of the Township’s budgetary constraints and recognize that any large-scale public event requires a significant commitment of financial and operational resources. However, based on prior years, the resources necessary to safely manage this event in its current form would far exceed what has historically been provided. More importantly, even with standard public-safety safeguards in place, the underlying safety concerns have not been resolved.

For that reason, the union is not comfortable representing that this event can be made sufficiently safe simply by increasing police presence, adding equipment, or repeating prior operational plans.

While additional resources may reduce some risk, they do not address the core concern: the current event model continues to generate conditions that are unsafe, unpredictable, and increasingly difficult to control.

Accordingly, the union’s primary recommendation is that the Township discontinue the current fireworks event model and pursue an alternative community celebration that does not carry the same level of foreseeable risk. Alternative events, such as a parade, smaller controlled gathering, or other family-oriented community celebration, may better serve the Township while reducing the safety concerns associated with the current fireworks event.

Formal Notice and Union Position

Given the continued increase in disorderly conduct, calls for police intervention, recent violent incidents, and documented safety concerns, the current structure of this event places officers, residents, families, visitors, and assisting agencies at unnecessary and foreseeable risk. These concerns are not speculative.

They are based on firsthand officer experience, documented prior incidents, current operational limitations, and the broader public-safety climate presently facing the Township.

This letter is intended to place the Township on formal notice that the union does not believe the Fourth of July fireworks event should continue in its current form. The union position is firm: the current model is no longer safe, no longer sustainable, and no longer appropriate given the conditions officers have been required to manage.

Once these concerns have been formally placed before the Township, any decision to continue the event against the recommendation of police administration and the affected police unions would be a conscious decision to proceed despite known and foreseeable risks. Such a decision would reflect a failure to give proper weight to the documented safety concerns raised by those directly responsible for managing the event on the ground.

As such, the union can no longer support the event in its current form. The union remains willing to participate in a planning meeting, after-action review, or operational discussion regarding safer alternatives. However, our willingness to participate in those discussions should not be misinterpreted as support for continuing the event in its present form.

We respectfully request that these concerns be addressed before any final decision is made to continue the event. If the Township elects to proceed despite this formal notice, it should do so with a clear understanding that the resulting safety, operational, and liability consequences were foreseeable, documented, and raised in advance by the law enforcement professionals responsible for protecting the event.

We remain committed to the safety of our officers and the community we serve. That commitment requires us to state plainly that continuing the current fireworks model, without replacement or substantial change beyond previously attempted safeguards, would be an unacceptable risk to the Township, its residents, its visitors, and its police officers.

Respectfully,

Burlington County Policemen’s Benevolent Association Local #37

On behalf of the Mount Holly Police Department Police Officers Association

and the Mount Holly Police Department Superior Officers Association

With the support of the Mount Holly Chief of Police

Township Manger Response