In several conversation with Town Council President Rob Hermansen, I’ve heard that the council is not trying to keep anyone out, that these ordinances – one relating to dos and don’ts in the park and another adding a new layer to the town’s existing “No-knock” ordinance – have absolutely nothing to do with the uproar over the extension into Mahwah of an eruv – a religious boundary that allows Orthodox Jews to perform certain tasks outside the house on the Sabbath, like pushing a stroller.
Batelli is in the same dog house as Laforet because Batelli sought guidance from the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office about enforcing another Mahwah ordinance, one that would ban out-of-towners from using public parks – even if they arrived without tree-leaning bicycles.
On Friday, Laforet told me these new ordinances were like shoving a “Stick in the tiger’s eye;” the council was goading state officials to conclude that Mahwah was indeed looking to exclude Jews any way it could.
Doblin: An eruv connects Mahwah to Clybourne Park.The mayor wants the town council to wait on the new ordinances until after state officials have determined whether the removal of the eruv and the park ban where religiously motivated.