Past Toms River Councilman Fined for Influencing the Hiring of His Son
Tuesday, April 29, 2025
TOMS RIVER, NJ (APRIL 28, 2025) (CNBNEWS) -- The Local Finance Board fined a former Toms River Councilman $400 for violating the New Jersey Local Government Ethics Law, reported John Paff of TransparencyNJ.com.
Paff, who first reported the violation notice, stated that the agency is primarily responsible for enforcing the Local Government Ethics Law. According to the Board’s findings, in 2018, while his son Kevan Kubiel was applying for an entry-level police officer position, Councilman Brian S. Kubiel, who served on the Toms River Township Council (Ocean County, NJ) until December 2019 participated in official actions that directly influenced the hiring process.
The Notice of Violation (NOV) indicates that at the August 14, 2018, council meeting, Kubiel voted in favor of an ordinance that modified police hiring practices by allowing the police chief to increase the number of hires and permitting applicants to enhance their written exam scores. On August 28, 2018, he also reportedly voted in favor of adopting the ordinance and supported an emergency resolution allowing for its immediate enactment.
The Board further found that in September 2018, after his son received a written exam score too low to advance in the hiring process, Kubiel emailed Toms River Police Chief Mitch Little on September 13, 2018, asking the chief to review his son’s test score in light of his work experience.
The Local Finance Board determined that Kubiel committed the following ethics violations: CONTINUE TO READ
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**40A:9-22.5 Code of Ethics for Local Government Officers or Employees Under the Jurisdiction of the Local Finance Board**
Local government officers and employees governed by the Local Finance Board must adhere to the following provisions:
a. No local government officer or employee, nor any member of their immediate family, shall have an interest in a business organization or engage in any business, transaction, or professional activity that significantly conflicts with their official duties in the public interest.
b. An independent local authority shall not take the following actions for a period of one year after the departure of a member from that authority:
1. Award any contract that is not publicly bid to a former member of that authority.
2. Allow a former member to represent, appear for, or negotiate on behalf of any other party before that authority.
3. Employ for compensation, unless through an open competitive examination as per Title 11A of the New Jersey Statutes and the associated regulations, any former member of that authority. This restriction also applies to any business organization in which the former authority member has an interest.
c. No local government officer or employee shall use or attempt to use their official position to obtain unwarranted privileges or advantages for themselves or others.
d. No local government officer or employee shall act in their official capacity on any matter where they, a member of their immediate family, or a business organization in which they have an interest has a direct or indirect financial or personal involvement that could reasonably be expected to impair their objectivity or independence of judgment.
e. No local government officer or employee shall undertake any employment or service, whether compensated or not, that could reasonably be expected to compromise their independence of judgment in performing their official duties.
f. No local government officer or employee, nor any member of their immediate family or business organization in which they have an interest, shall solicit or accept any gift, favor, loan, political contribution, service, promise of future employment, or other valuable consideration based on an understanding that it was given to influence their official duties. This restriction does not apply to the solicitation or acceptance of contributions to an announced candidate's campaign for elective public office, provided the local government officer has no knowledge or reason to believe that the contribution was intended to influence them.
g. No local government officer or employee shall use, or allow their public office or employment, or any information not generally available to the public, acquired during their official duties, to secure financial gain for themselves, their immediate family, or any associated business organization.
h. No local government officer or employee, nor any business organization in which they have an interest, shall represent any individual or party other than the local government in matters pending before any agency within the local government they serve. This provision does not prevent one local government employee from representing another employee in official labor union or similar responsibilities.
i. A local government officer shall not be considered in conflict with these provisions if their participation in the enactment of any ordinance, resolution, or other matter does not result in significant material or monetary gain to them, compared to what any other member of their business, profession, occupation, or group might reasonably expect.
j. An elected local government officer may inquire about information on behalf of a constituent, as long as no fee, reward, or other valuable consideration is promised, given, or accepted by the officer or a member of their immediate family in return.
k. Nothing in these provisions shall prevent any local government officer or employee, or their immediate family members, from representing themselves in negotiations or proceedings regarding their own interests.