Mayoral Recall Effort 'Continually Growing,' Campaign Says

MAHWAH, NJ — The grassroots effort to hold a recall election against Mayor William Laforet continues to grow.

The Committee to Recall Mayor William Laforet launched the campaign in early January. It believes voters should have the chance in November to vote on who the mayor should be.

"All we want to see happen is for Mahwah to have the opportunity to vote for new leadership in this upcoming election," said Melanie Sue, the committee's campaign manager. "It deserves to be put to a vote."

A "small number" of Laforet's supporters have tried to "squash" the campaign and the group's "Recall Laforet" signs are constantly stolen, Sue said.

The group claims that a new mayor would also benefit other areas of township leadership. The mayor appoints, with the council's approval, several members of the Planning Board, Zoning Board, Library Board of Trustees and the township attorney.

"There are many leadership roles in our community that could benefit from electing a new mayor," Sue said.

The committee needs to collect 4,150 signatures, 25 percent of the registered voters in town, to recall Laforet. The recall campaign timed the effort so that the vote will take place on election day in November, at no cost to the taxpayers. A recall "yes or no" question asking residents whether Laforet should be recalled would be placed on the ballot if enough signatures are collected.

Sue said the committee is "approaching an important milestone" regarding the number of signatures it has collected, but declined to give an exact number.

It is the second recall effort residents have launched against Laforet in his seven years in office.

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

The 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.

Residents were at odds with Laforet then regarding his decision to terminate DPW Director Ed Sinclair in 2015 over allegations of inappropriate material being watched on DPW computers.

Officials have also expressed their displeasure with Laforet. Twice during his tenure they have cast votes of no confidence in him.

Residents and officials called Laforet out at a September council meeting about an interview he gave about an ordinance changing the local rules for peddlers and solicitors. The Town Council cast a vote of no confidence in Laforet at that meeting.

Laforet, backed, and then distanced himself from, the ordinance in an interview. He said Mahwah had no history of any objections by residents about people banging on their doors. Residents disagreed.

Several people previously complained at meetings that strangers, including Orthodox Jews, banged on their doors and inquired about buying their homes.

Another ordinance banned non-New Jersey residents from visiting the town's parks and by introducing an ordinance that would have essentially outlawed a Jewish religious boundary called an eruv.

An Orthodox Jewish group from Rockland County, New York and the New Jersey Attorney General's Office filed lawsuits over the ordinances. Residents were afraid that the eruv was the first move toward having communities of Orthodox Jews from Rockland County moving to New Jersey.

The Jewish group sued the town in August to block officials from removing the eruv, which had been constructed on utility poles in town. The town settled that lawsuit earlier this year.

Laforet claimed in a statement in October that he "repeatedly warned the council of these consequences for months."

Laforet previously said the second effort to recall him is "spiteful" and "irrational."

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

Email daniel.hubbard@patch.com. Get Patch breaking news alerts sent right to your phone with our new app. Download here.

Photo: Mayor William Laforet/Patch file photo