Mahwah Mayor Named A Hero For Tolerance

Patch
Bill Laforet was honored during a special ceremony at Yankee Stadium Sunday.

MAHWAH, NJ — Mayor William Laforet was named a hero for tolerance at a 9/11 remembrance ceremony at Yankee Stadium Sunday.

Laforet was one of five people honored at the Simon Wiesenthal Center's third annual 9/11 Honoring Heroes for Tolerance ceremony. The ceremony recognizes people who have helped fight against intolerance, especially anti-Semitism. The center is a global human rights organization that works to combat hate and terrorism.

Laforet said he was "honored" to accept the award "on behalf of all the good people of our community who stand with me where the civil rights of human beings are being challenged with bigotry and shame."

The Simon Wiesenthal Center stated Laforet has demonstrated an "unrelenting opposition to anti-Semitism."

Laforet is in the midst of a recall election brought about by a grassroots group of residents who got enough resident signatures to hold such an election. It is the second recall effort launched against Laforet in his time as mayor. (See related: John Roth Officially Announces Candidacy For Mahwah Mayor)

Laforet and the council locked horns regarding a controversial ordinance banning non-New Jersey residents from using township parks. Laforet came under fire for criticizing the Town Council over the ordinance and its alleged discrimination against Orthodox Jews.

Another ordinance required peddlers to get permits before they went to residents' homes soliciting. The ordinances were proposed during a controversy regarding a Jewish religious boundary in town commonly called an eruv.

The state Attorney General's Office filed a civil rights lawsuit against the town. The council repealed the ordinance.

The Town Council cast a vote of no confidence in Laforet in September — the second such vote cast against him in three years.

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

Email: daniel.hubbard@patch.com

Photo: The award presented to Mahwah Mayor William Laforet by the Simon Wiesenthal Center