Mayor More Interested In Self-Promotion Than Governing: Committee

MAHWAH, NJ — Mayor William Laforet is more interested in self-promotion and not focused on Mahwah, said the chairman of a group leading a recall campaign against him.

Vincent Maiello, chairman of the Committee to Recall Mayor William Laforet, refuted claims Laforet made in a recent statement regarding the recall effort.

"Our mayor's attempts to distract from the real issues are not lost here. The current recall has nothing to do with the police chief, attorney general or the town council," Maiello said. "This recall has been initiated by a citizen's petition because we believe that Mahwah is in desperate need of better leadership."

Laforet has been the center of criticism and controversy for years, including at a Town Council meeting in March 2015 where then Councilwoman H. Lisa Di Giulio called Laforet a "piece of [expletive]." The Town Council took a vote of no confidence in Laforet at that March 2015 meeting and again in September 2017.

A big part of that controversy involved the termination of Department of Public Works Director Ed Sinclair, a political adversary. Sinclair's employment was brought into question after officials received an anonymous letter stating that there was child pornography on a department computer. A police investigation revealed no child pornography on the computer.

Other recent controversy includes Laforet backing, and then distancing himself from, an ordinance that would have made a Jewish religious boundary called an eruv illegal in town.

The state Attorney General's office filed a lawsuit against the town, claiming it discriminated against Orthodox Jews from New York by banning non-New Jersey residents from visiting the town's parks and prohibited the eruv.

An Orthodox Jewish group from New York filed a lawsuit in August to block officials from removing the eruv.

"Mayor Laforet's gross incompetence and lies have embroiled this township in several lawsuits. He's more interested in promoting himself with regard to county and state politics. We need a leader who is focused on Mahwah," Maiello said. "The community awareness is at an all-time high. We are exercising our rights as citizens to put the question on the November ballot."

Related: Mahwah Council Casts Vote Of No Confidence In Mayor Laforet
Related: Mahwah Resident Announces Mayoral Recall Effort
Related: Mahwah Residents Launch 2nd Recall Effort Against Mayor Laforet

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Image: Mahwah Town Hall/Patch file photo