Mahwah August 22, 2012 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • Page 11 Faulkner Act political dispute ends in stalemate by Frank J. McMahon The political dispute between a Mahwah council member and the township’s mayor about the propriety of a conversation the council member had with a township employee ended in a stalemate at the council’s last public meeting. The matter was placed on the agenda at the request of Councilman John Roth. Roth took exception to a letter he received from Mayor William Laforet implying that he violated the law governing the style of government under which the township operates by holding what appeared to the mayor to be a discussion of official business with an employee. Mahwah’s mayor and council type government operates under the provisions of the state’s Faulkner Act, or Optional Municipal Charter Law, which is non-partisan. Mayor Laforet claims that law prohibits council members from discussing official business with employees without the permission of the mayor or his or her designate. Roth maintains the discussion he had with Edward Sinclair, the superintendent of the department of public works in the office of Keith Hallissey, the DPW department head, was not about official business. The councilman said he spoke to Sinclair as a resident to discuss the pickup of brush on his street, and there was no violation of the Faulkner Act. Roth feels the mayor should have asked him what the discussion was about before sending him an official letter. “Nothing like this has ever happened before. I feel like I was singled out,” Roth said. Laforet, who happened to enter the office during Roth’s discussion with Sinclair, who is challenging Laforet in the November mayoral election, claims the discussion was a violation of the Faulkner Act. Laforet told Roth and the council that he had no intention of taking any legal action in the matter, but he stood by his letter to Roth because, as the mayor, he has the responsibility to enforce the Faulkner Act. Roth countered that the letter was unnecessary and that The Township of Mahwah’s Office of Emergency Management maintains a town wide list of residents with special needs. The list, which is kept strictly confidential, is only used by emergency management personnel in the event of an emergency, such as a fire, flood, serious storm, or power failure in the township, in order to provide assistance to those with special needs. Special needs individuals include those who are confined to a wheel chair, who use oxygen on a regular and continuing basis, are in need of dialysis treatments, have mental or physical handicaps, have hearing or sight impairments, are elderly or live alone, or are senior citizens in Citizens with special needs sought need of help in an emergency. Those residents with the special needs described, or their care givers, should call the Mahwah Office of Emergency Management at (201) 831-2075 or e-mail a request to rroe@mahwahtwp.org to obtain a registration form. The forms can also be obtained at the township receptionist desk in the lobby of the township’s municipal building at 475 Corporate Drive, the Senior Citizen Center, which is also at the municipal building, and the library, located at 100 Ridge Road. The list is updated every six months. From this database, a Reverse 911 list is developed. the mayor should have just asked him about the conversation without sending the letter. Laforet claimed that having a discussion with the door closed is not the normal practice of a resident, and he concluded the discussion was about official business. “A normal resident would not go in and close the door,” Laforet said. Roth claimed that he did not go into the office with official questions, and the door was closed because it was hard to hear in the office. Laforet said he has an obligation to enforce the township’s form of government and, while he has no intention of imposing sanctions, he wants everyone to abide by the law. “If you approached an employee as a resident,” Laforet told Roth, “then there is no issue.” Roth continued the discussion, however, pointing out that when he had a closed door meeting with the mayor in June, when the mayor asked him to support him in his reelection campaign, he didn’t send him a letter about violating the Faulkner Act at that time. Laforet responded by pointing out that the conversation he had with Roth in June was consensual. Council President John Spiech ended the discussion by emphasizing that elected officials are held to a higher standard because they swear to uphold the law. He asked the township clerk to provide booklets to all the council members explaining the Faulkner Act, and he ended the discussion saying, “If people want to get lawyers, that’s up to them.”