Mahwah Mayoral Recall Effort Enters Final Days

The effort to have a recall question regarding Mayor William Laforet is winding down.

The recall committee will collect signatures until the self-imposed deadline of Aug. 1. The group needs about 4,200 registered voters to sign a petition to get the question of William Laforet should continue as mayor on the ballot.

Annette Freud, who is heading up the campaign, said she does not know exactly how many signatures the committee has collected but says that it is a “significant” number.

“I, personally, do not want to know how many we have until they’re counted,” Freud said. “We just want to go out there everyday and try to get as many people to sign as we can.”

The group started out with about a dozen volunteers a few months ago. Now, more than 40 people are participating.

“We’ve seen an influx of people this week who want to help out,” Freud said.

The group will turn the petition into local officials Aug. 1. The signatures will be counted Aug. 2. An announcement of how many valid signatures were collected should come Aug. 3.

The county clerk has 10 days to count and verify the signatures. The signatures must match those registered voters use to vote. Laforet has 10 days to challenge them. The clerk’s office needs 30 days to create a sample ballot and mail it to voters and another 30 days to create the actual ballot.

Campaigners have citied five reasons for the recall, including Laforet allegedly not abiding by municipal statutes regarding the opening of an ice rink on town property and circumventing and miscommunication with the council, among other accusations.

Laforet was elected to an unexpired term in 2011 and re-elected to a four-year term in 2012. His current term expires in 2016.

Laforet has said that he will not let the recall effort distract him from governing the township to the best of his ability.