John Roth Officially Announces Candidacy For Mahwah Mayor

MAHWAH, NJ — John Roth on Monday officially announced his candidacy for mayor of the township in the Nov. 6 recall election.

The announcement comes on the same day that Township Clerk Kathrine Coviello formally approved the election ballot. Roth and incumbent Bill Laforet are the lone candidates running.

Roth said he is running because the town needs a change in leadership.

"Our town needs a significant course correction and new leadership with a proper moral compass," Roth said in a statement Monday. "We need to immediately re-establish a collaborative working relationship with the Town Council based on trust and civility, and guided by what's right for Mahwah."

Roth is a 25-year township resident. He is a retired marketing executive with a degree in business administration from Manhattan College.

He has served for 19 years on various township boards, including 12 years on the Town Council, five on the Board of Education, and two on the Planning Board.

Roth developed the marketing for the $35 million Board of Education referendum for the Lenape Meadows School. As a councilman, he saved taxpayers $2 million by reducing expenses, improving revenues, and implementing "more efficient" operations, Roth said.

Roth c0-founded Mahwah Community News and the Access For All Commission, which serves children with special needs, and helped negotiate the last contract with the local police union.

Roth said he plans on maintaining the town's low taxes and utility rates through hands-on scrutiny of the budget.

"The focus will be on the must-haves versus the nice-to-haves," Roth said. "I am a proponent of moderate development within the guidelines of the Master Plan, as well as the preservation of all aspects of our environment, including water, air, and trees."

Roth and Laforet will speak at a candidates night Oct. 23 sponsored by the library Board of Trustees.

Roth lost to Laforet in the 2016 mayoral election by about 100 votes. (See related: Election Results: William Laforet Wins Mahwah Mayoral Race)

Roth is the lone candidate running against Laforet after three others — Council President Robert Hermansen, Frank Pallotta, and Mike Devine — withdrew their applications to run in order to support Roth's candidacy. (See related: Mahwah Mayoral Race Down To 2 After 3 Candidates Drop Out)

"I totally respect what they did because I think if we split the ticket, he wins," Roth said. "I have great admiration to them. My hats off to all of them."

A question will appear on the Nov. 6 ballot to recall Laforet and list Roth and Laforet as candidates for the top elected post in the township. If Roth defeats Laforet, he will immediately become mayor.

A grassroots group of residents got the required number of signatures needed to hold a recall election. It is the second recall effort launched against Laforet in his time as mayor.

Laforet defended himself. Previously, he said he has an an "impeccable record of performance." He said that under his administration the town has maintained its Moody's AAA bond rating and provided one of the "lowest levels of property taxes in Bergen County."

Laforet and the council locked horns regarding a controversial ordinance banning non-New Jersey residents from using township parks. Laforet came under fire for criticizing the Town Council over the ordinance and its alleged discrimination against Orthodox Jews.

Another ordinance required peddlers to get permits before they went to residents' homes soliciting. The ordinances were proposed during a controversy regarding a Jewish religious boundary in town commonly called an eruv.

The state Attorney General's Office filed a civil rights lawsuit against the town.

Council President Robert Hermansen has denied that any prejudicial or discriminatory motives were behind the ordinances' creation and passage. The ordinances have since been repealed.

The Town Council cast a vote of no confidence in Laforet in September — the second such vote cast against him in three years.

The first recall campaign against Laforet was in 2015, but the group in charge of it stopped its campaign because there was not enough time to get the required number of signatures.

That group claimed that Laforet allegedly did not abide by municipal statutes regarding the opening of an ice rink on town property, circumvented the Town Council's authority and accused him of using emergency communications equipment for political gain.

Email: daniel.hubbard@patch.com

Photo: Mahwah Mayoral candidate John Roth (Courtesy of John Roth)