SUMMARY: Mount Holly Council Member Rich DiFolco has been having second thoughts. He now acknowledges his inappropriate reaction to questions raised by Council Members Tara Astor and Kim Burkus on May 20th, 2026. He has not yet spoken on the record about the nearly 4 week campaign to spread a false narrative about how the fireworks would be cancelled due to budget issues raised by Astor and Burkus. But on June 15, 2026 the false narrative ran straight into a brick wall called the Mount Holly Police Department letter which described troubles with the fireworks due to security issues. This article explores how the security issue was hidden while blame for the cancelled fireworks was falsely assigned to council members who tried to protect residents from a gigantic tax increase.
A GRIM WARNING
As May 6th, 2026 dawned, Mount Holly Township faced two vexing but unrelated issues:
A. A hidden police department letter issued a grim July 4th 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 6th. 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 20th was no exception. Even though Brown had the PBA letter since May 6th.
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 4th 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 6th 2026. The email discussed the PBA letter and Chief Spencer’s request to DiFolco that the July 4th 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 10th 2026 and that DiFolco had the PBA letter on May 6th 2026.
COUNCIL FRUSTRATION BUILDS AS THE BUDGET IS EXAMINED
At the May 20th, 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 20th 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 4th 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 20th 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 4th 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 20th 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 10th 2026 Rich DiFolco meets with Chief Spencer to discuss the PBA letter and July 4th 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 29th 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.
