He says he would've won, but Mahwah Mayor Bill Laforet is giving up his legal fight against an effort to recall him from office.
He says he would’ve won, yet Mahwah Mayor Bill Laforet is giving up his legal fight against an effort to recall him from office.
Laforet initially challenged the recall in a 12-page letter from his attorney to Township Clerk Kathrine Coviello, who certified that the required number of signatures 4,170 — which Laforet also disputed — had been obtained by the Committee to Recall Mayor Laforet.
But Laforet, who had to foot his own legal bills for the recall objection, said this week that he doesn’t want the town to have to spend more money on a legal battle over the recall. He will simply let voters decide in November if he should finish his term, which ends in 2020.
And he used the occasion to again throw shade at the Township Council and those seeking to oust him.
“Such [a] legal challenge would result in yet another legal bill being paid by the Mahwah taxpayers on top of the nearly third of a million dollars in Mahwah taxpayers’ dollars already spent by the Township Council to legally backtrack and defend their civil rights infractions that were condemned by the highest law enforcement official in the state of New Jersey,” Laforet said in a statement.
“Therefore, I have decided not to file a lawsuit, but instead will take my case to the people,” the statement continues. “I intend to run a campaign based on truth, and I intend to expose those who would dupe people into signing a recall petition which was fraudulently gathered. I have faith in my friends and neighbors and the good people of this community to do the right thing at the polls.”
The recall chairperson, Melanie Sue, said “the recall campaign is the one that was run on the truth” and that the committee is “pleased” Laforet won’t challenge it in court.
“Fortunately for Mahwah, the mayor seems to have gotten good advice by his attorneys and will spare himself the embarrassment of losing in court,” she said.
Sue said Laforet didn’t substantiate his objections to the recall and that she believes the clerk was “diligent” in her work. “Proof of this is that many of our signatures weren’t counted for simple reasons like change of address,” she said. “Although both new and old addresses are Mahwah, the clerk didn’t count them because the address had not been updated on the resident’s voter registration.”
Still, the committee provided more than the required number of signatures, Sue said.
Feuds between Laforet and the township council have been a hallmark of his tenure landing the township in the news and courtrooms. But the acrimony reached its peak in 2015 when Laforet suspended Department of Public Works Director Ed Sinclair, who ran against Laforet for mayor, after allegedly receiving an anonymous letter about Sinclair having child pornography on his work computer.
An investigation by police found adult pornography had been accessed by someone other than Sinclair on the device. Laforet wanted to punish Sinclair for poor oversight of the department but the council reinstated the director.
Sinclair died a few months later from what a wrongful death lawsuit says was health problems brought on by the false allegations.
More recently, the council and mayor have pointed fingers over an eruv ban and a parks ordinance that forbid out of state residents from using Mahwah parks — both of which resulted in a lawsuit being filed by the Attorney General’s office.
Laforet said, again, Tuesday he has no plans to resign.
Laforet also in his 289-word statement about the recall touted his record while mayor for the past 7 years — two AAA bond ratings, property taxes that are among the lowest in Bergen County, being recognized as one of the safest communities in the state and attracting corporations that bring jobs and revenue to the town.
Council President Rob Hermansen also took to Facebook to dispute Laforet’s “version of the facts.”
“The Mayor will use money and propaganda to get his distorted facts to the people,” Hermansen said. “He is going to blame everyone but himself.”
Hermansen said in a phone interview that the things the mayor is taking credit for have nothing to do with his time in office.
And he also accused Laforet of withholding information from the council — such as Police Chief James Batelli’s concerns about the parks ordinance.
“The reason why we are where we are in this town is when you withhold pertanent information … because of disagreemtns in personal relationships, you’re not taking your job seriously,” Hermansen said.
Allison Pries may be reached at apries@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @AllisonPries. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
http://www.nj.com/bergen/index.ssf/2018/08/mayor_will_not_fight_recall_leaves_fate_in_voters.html