The Show's Over Mayor Laforet...

To download a PDF of this article, please click here.

At Mahwah's last Town Council meeting on September 14, 2017, residents shared their concerns on an array of topics. But when specific ordinances were being discussed Mayor Laforet sat there in silence, looking down at the floor. The next day, however, the mayor had quite a lot to say on WWOR's Chasing News TV program. If you haven't checked out the segment, please watch this video before continuing to read.

With an active open court case against the town of Mahwah, by appearing on this show the mayor directly ignored the advice of his legal counsel. And while I could easily challenge (practically) every word of this interview, I want to remain laser-focused on only a few points. In the interview, the mayor stated:

"Let us be very honest here that the question you are asking is why are we doing this? We have no history of any objections by residents about people banging on their doors. No reports to the police department. So, it's is a very good question as to why we choose now to implement an ordinance like this."

While it is true there were no police reports filed (that I can find), to imply that there were no objections is ridiculous. I have witnessed first-hand when attending Town Council meetings where residents directly expressed their concerns over door knocking to the Town Council and the mayor.

However, the mayor is completely ignoring the fact that he has personally received emails from residents who have shared these exact concerns.

(To view this entire email, please click here.)

But that isn't even the biggest concern. During the Chasing News interview, which aired on September 15, 2017, the Mayor said, "So, it's is a very good question as to why we choose now to implement an ordinance like this." It is interesting that he would make that statement given the fact that on July 11, 2017, approximately two-months before this interview aired, the mayor sent the following email to members of the Town Council, the Business Administrator, and town attorney, in which he suggested that a No Knock ordinance should be considered:

(To view this email entire, please click here.)

In the screenshot above, the mayor stated, "see attached" in reference to what he believes "both the Mayor and Council should strongly consider" with respect to a "No Knock & No Solicitation" ordinance. What is in this attachment? Well, it is a copy of the ordinance that was approved and is now being enforced in Jersey City, NJ. Why does that matter? Because it was an example sent by the mayor, to members of the Council and others, of an ordinance that was not only passed, but that is also currently being enforced throughout our state.

But it doesn't end there. You can see below a response the mayor forwarded from Marianne Campbell of Mahwah's Health Department to Councilman Wong regarding her take on the proposed ordinances. Note the date: July 20, 2017. In this email, the mayor is clearly engaged in a dialogue on this topic, proven by the fact that he is actively forwarding emails to council members discussing the No Knock ordinance.

(To view this entire email, please click here.)

Mayor Laforet and his band of Merry Men can put as many people as they want in front of that microphone at town council meetings, where these folks make false and baseless claims, such as Mahwah's residents being anti-Semitic (which nobody has proved). The mayor can continue to allow Jim McQueeny, husband of Bergen County's current Freeholder Mary Amoroso, to connect him with every news outlet on the planet so Laforet can throw our residents under the bus. Laforet can also continue to condone and/or ignore Todd Sherer's (chairman of the town's Planning Board) questionable past and current behavior. But he can't hide from the truth anymore.

There's one more piece to this puzzle that I'd like to share that further exposes the reality of our situation in Mahwah.

While it is unrelated to the No Knock ordinance, Mayor Laforet has known about the influx of out-of-state visitors to Mahwah's parks since (at least) July, 2016. You see, Mahwah's Chief of Police, along with others from the area, were invited to visit and meet with a private ambulance company, Hatzolah, by Town of Ramapo (Rockland County) Police Chief, Brad Weidel. This private company serves the Ultra-Orthodox and Hassidic communities, as these folks will not (typically) allow those outside of their sect to help them. So now we not only have to have PVC pipes to accommodate a group that isn't planning to take over our town, but we also must ensure they can have special ambulances. Here is an excerpt of an email sent by our Police Chief to the Mayor, Council President, and Business Administrator where the Police Chief recaps his meeting with Hatzolah and his peers-

(To view this email string in its entirety, please click here.)

I'm sorry if this comes across as insensitive, but I find this unconscionable. In what world would a person who is bleeding to death refuse care from a qualified EMT? I wouldn't care if they helped me! The result of this kind of lunacy is also dangerous. In August, 2017, a seven-year-old girl drowned in a swimming pool in Pomona, NY (Rockland County). It isn't known why she drowned and no charges were filed. It it concerning that local police in the area didn't even know about this event, as a Hatzolah ambulance took the child to Westchester Medical Center without telling them. They claim that as a private company, they don't need to do so. While this may be true...are they serious??? In the letter I included a link to, above, this didn't appear to concern Mahwah's police chief, either.

Citing religious reasons, they wouldn't allow for an autopsy (which may or may not have confirmed if this was indeed an accident or not). In addition, "Rockland County Executive Ed Day says law enforcement officials are aware of multiple cases where people directly call for ambulances instead of calling 911 and then the incident goes unreported until it's too late(1)."

It is this letter, however, that is the most alarming. It was sent to Mahwah's Town Council and Mayor, by our Police Chief, in September, 2016. What stands out most in this letter is this section:

I do not blame the police chief for writing this if he was only recounting what was discussed in the meeting he is referencing. It does, however, clearly prove that all the concerns by Mahwah's residents are legitimate and just. It also proves that the Mayor has known about this for (at least) a year. Once again, this isn't about religion, despite how badly some want it to be. This group is a cult, at best. And we're not going to ignore the countless stories of corruption, destruction, and secularization, simply because some folks want to label us as anti-Semitic. I'm tired of defending this point, but what's more, I'm tired of our mayor's efforts in condoning this nonsense and baseless rhetoric.

I leave all those who read this to draw their own conclusions. However, what I will also ask is that you please print this out and share it with someone in Fardale (where it is believed too few even know any of this is occurring), a senior community- anyone and everyone needs to be at Town Hall tonight at 7:30 PM. There is Back to school Night for Ramapo Ridge, so we need all those in the community who can to attend.

My understanding is that the mayor believes I am personally on one side of 'this' debate...an, 'us against him' scenario. Let me be clear...the side I am on is the one that best-ensures a prosperous future for Mahwah's residents. The actual debate here is between the majority of Mahwah's residents — who have a history of acceptance, community, and inclusion — against a pathological, corrupt mayor supported by a mafia of scumbags who are trying to pursue an agenda that stems from the NJ Supreme Court's ruling on affordable housing.

Mayor Laforet has turned his back on a town he claims to love. I, for one, am done listening to his lies.

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Now, I could leave it there...but as he is a politician, allow me to predict some of the political pizza he will try to serve us. In case you haven't read my other articles, political pizza is when a person (typically a politician) calls a pizza a pepperoni pie, even if only one slice has the topping on it-

• He'll try to claim that he wasn't talking about the No Knock ordinance on the show but was actually referencing X, Y, Z. Ah, the timeless art of deflection. In this interview, he specifically stated "We have no history of any objections by residents about people banging on their doors." There is no deflecting here. And when he tries, it is time to call him out on it.
• The mayor may bring it back to the two subpoenas from the Attorney General and pending civil rights violations. Nope...sorry, more deflecting. These two issues have nothing to do with the fact that he said what he did in this interview.
• This is a stretch but I don't put it out of the realm of possibility...he might try to claim that it wasn't even him on the phone. That would be fantastic.
• Political Pizza at its best would be if he states how he validated the concerns of Mahwah's residents by stating we want to protect our neighborhood.

My hope is that we have a huge turnout tonight, despite the fact it is Back to school Night for Ramapo Ridge. However, this information needs to be widespread in our town. In my view, the mayor must step down and allow Mahwah to both heal and properly fight back. There are no more excuses or places to hide.

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1. http://westchester.news12.com/...