Council President John Roth Running For Mahwah Mayoralship

MAHWAH, N.J. - Republican Council President John Roth is running for mayor in this year's municipal election.

Roth said in his first campaign statement Wednesday that the township "needs a mayor with integrity who will put Mahwah first."

Roth has a long history of public service. He was first elected to the Township Council in 2004. He served on the Board of Education for five years and the Planning Board for two. He was elected council vice president twice and president four times.

Roth is a retired marketing executive and spent more than 15 years in various senior management positions at Lowe Worldwide, an international marketing and communications firm.

Roth said he "believes that a vote for [me] will put Mahwah back on the right track."

Mayor William Laforet, an independent, has had a tumultuous term in office.

A citizens group ran a recall campaign against Laforet. They said he accepted campaign contributions from an applicant before the Planning Board and then voted in favor of the project, incompetently manages personnel matters, fails to abide by municipal statutes that protect township finances.

"We have had four years of reckless, thoughtless, inexperienced management that has resulted in employee harassment, [hundreds of thousands] of wasted tax dollars, and precipitated a federal lawsuit with the potential for enormous consequences on our taxes," Roth said.

Perhaps the biggest stain on Laforet's record is the controversy involving Laforet firing the late public works Director Ed Sinclair.

Laforet fired Sinclair because pornography was found on a discarded computer in the Department of Public Works. A police investigation found the adult sexual images had been downloaded before Sinclair became director. The Town Council overturned the firing that same month. Sinclair died of a heart attack in August.

Sinclair's estate filed a $20 million wrongful-death lawsuit against the township.

Laforet could not be reached for comment.

Council President John Roth/Courtesy of Roth for Mayor