The mayor of Toms River says he won’t change anything when it comes to moving money away from the police department to fund hiring extra EMS workers.

The controversial decision to eliminate two police captain positions to hire trained EMS staff led to a petition in the township to recall the ordinance. Once the number of signatures was reached, it forced the council to act. All seven members voted unanimously to repeal the ordinance.

While speaking at Wednesday night’s council meeting, Mayor Dan Rodrick says he will refuse to fill the retiring captain positions, saving the town hundreds of thousands of dollars.

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“To avoid the cost of a special election or litigation, I’ve advised the council to repeal the ordinance. But to be clear, this doesn’t change anything, and we will do what’s best for residents and won’t be pushed around by unions,” Rodrick said.

Rodrick also announced he would raise starting salaries for new full- and part-time EMS hires to make the township more attractive to jobseekers.