MAHWAH -- It was the mayor's idea. It was conceived by a reckless council president. It's a conspiracy to get Phil Murphy elected governor.

There was no shortage of blame or finger-pointing in Mahwah on Tuesday, when Christopher S. Porrino, the state's attorney general, dropped a bombshell complaint against the town that pushed the largest municipality in Bergen County into full-on crisis mode.

Porrino dropped words like "hatred," "bigotry," "small-minded" and "bias," in an extraordinary press release condemning the actions of Mahwah's leaders and some of its citizens, likening them to "1950s-era white flight suburbanites who sought to keep African-Americans from moving into their neighborhoods."

At issue is Mahwah's rocky relationship with the large Orthodox Jewish community across its shared border with Rockland County, New York, and its illegal efforts to keep the community from "infiltrating" Mahwah, as Porrino put it.

The state is seeking an injunction against two township ordinances - one approved and one pending -- that it alleges are discriminatory against the Orthodox Jewish community.

The first ordinance, which went into effect at the end of July, limited the use of Mahwah's parks to New Jersey residents. The passing of the ordinance could have a financial impact on the township, as the nine-count complaint seeks a return of more than $3.4 million in state Green Acres grants received by Mahwah.

The second ordinance the office found discriminatory was introduced, but ultimately tabled, and would've expanded an existing town rule that bans signs on utility poles to include any "device or other matter."

In effect, it would have banned "lechis" from utility poles, essentially PVC piping that forms a religious boundary known as an eruv, the state alleged. The eruv allows Orthodox Jews to perform routine tasks outside of their home on the Sabbath.

An eruv shown on a utility pole in Mahwah

Reached for comment on Tuesday, most council members said they had no idea about the advanced state of the attorney general's review of the ordinances. They said they were required to submit documents as part of a subpoena, but did not know Porrino had come to a decision. Most declined to comment for publication.

Mayor William Laforet initially said was unaware of the complaint. But a little more than an hour after receiving a call for comment, he issued a statement that largely blamed Council President Robert Hermansen for Mahwah's "loss of reputation."

"It has been a lonely and painful struggle for me and my family these past several months, having to deal with a reckless and oblivious council president, Rob Hermansen," Laforet said. "He personally led his council mates to this action by the state's highest law enforcement official, and is most accountable."

Hermansen, a former county freeholder, is specifically named in the complaint, which alleges he told a non-Orthodox woman that her mother, who lives in New York, would have no issue taking her grandchildren to a township park because her "situation" was not why the town passed the park law.

Robert Hermansen

Hermansen went so far as to suggest a neighborhood eruv watch, writing in a social media post that "the goal is to have everybody working together to make sure that our poles stay clean in Mahwah," according to the complaint.

Hermansen was the only council member to speak out on Tuesday, producing emails that he says prove Laforet is lying, and that the mayor pushed the council to pass the residents-only ordinance and supported the battle against the eruv.

He saved his sharpest criticism for Porrino, however, intimating that the attorney general and Laforet were colluding in an attempt to get Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Murphy and Laforet's preferred council candidates in Mahwah elected.

"I believe this has everything to do with trying to get Phil Murphy and [Laforet's] council candidates elected," Hermansen said. "Am I shocked that the mayor of Mahwah is backing Phil Murphy after having received a $2,600 check from him? Not really."

"To me, this is nothing more than a witch hunt," he said.

Hermansen said it was Laforet who, in the spring, pushed the council to pass the resolutions -- even sending emails on the topic.

Emails provided to NJ Advance Media show that Laforet repeatedly emailed council members about posting "New Jersey residents only" signs at town parks.

"Will you approve this ordinance so I can get these signs posted," Laforet wrote.

Laforet said the idea for the ordinance came about after meeting with a group of local mayors. But he says he backed off after the town was told that the residents-only park designation wouldn't pass legal muster, and that Hermansen is only telling half the story.

William Laforet

Hermansen also pushed part of the blame toward the township's legal counsel, nothing that the attorney writes ordinances based off "what they deem is good law. We pass the ordinance on the advice of our legal counsel."

Mahwah's township attorney, Brian Chewcaskie, did not return calls for comment.

Chewcaskie did wade into the the political discourse over the summer when he told council members and Laforet not to comment to the press about the eruv, according to emails obtained by NJ Advance Media through a records request.

The attorney's request set off another confrontation between Hermansen and Laforet, who have butted heads in the full-contact world of Mahwah politics for years.

Hermansen chastised the mayor in one email, saying he had "concern" for Mahwah and was, "struggling mightily with the decisions and comments" Laforet was making in public.

"I begged you to stop and you just can not help yourself. So here we are again," the council president wrote to the mayor.

The drama continued as Mahwah Police Chief James Batelli bypassed council members and wrote to Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir Grewal about his concerns enforcing the park ban.

As the mayor put it on Tuesday, "I'm on the chief of police's side."

Grewal told the chief not to enforce the ordinance. The county prosecutor did not respond Tuesday to requests for comment.

In an interview on Tuesday, the police chief said that he thought that Porrino's complaint "spoke for itself."

"Throughout our country, officials have to answer for their actions through these types of civil complaints," Batelli said. "Several months ago, I expressed my concerns about the ordinance that the council had submitted for enactment. From here, we'll have to see the response from the township."

After ordering the removal of the lechis and having the order met with a federal lawsuit in August, the town doesn't seems to have taken any additional action.

"America is a great place and nobody should have to endure the kind of discrimination that's emanating from Mahwah," said Yehudah Buchweitz, a partner in the litigation department at Weil Gotshal and Manges, part of the team going up against Mahwah.

Buchweitz is also litigiating against other townships in North Jersey fighting an eruv expansion, including Upper Saddle River and Montvale.

"I don't know what it is there. They have some people who I guess think you're allowed to say whatever you want. It's pretty disturbing and I'm glad it caught the attention of the New Jersey attorney general," he said Tuesday.

Reaction to the complaint and controversy was less pronounced among Mahwah residents, most of whom said they knew very little to nothing about the issue when approached in the town on Tuesday.

One mother who was leaving the library said she tries to avoid all media, so she hadn't heard of the eruv, parks ban or sign ordinance.

Another man said he was unfamiliar with the issues but if there were anti-Semitism at play, that would be wrong.

Alan Roth, who lives in Suffern but has family in Mahwah, said anything that threatens people's freedom of expression "needs to be avoided -- even if it inconveniences some residents."

"Once restrictions are placed on that, where does it end? There's something larger at stake," he said.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) had already commented on Mahwah's eruv case and wrote to Laforet asking him to rescind the decision to have it removed. It also condemned the vandalism to the eruv over the summer and called it, "deeply disturbing."

On Tuesday, the group commended Porrino and said the town's ordinances violated "the letter and spirit of the US and New Jersey constitutions as well as state anti-discrimination laws," said Joshua Cohen, ADL New Jersey regional director.

"We urge the township to foster an inclusive and welcoming community for all by amicably resolving this lawsuit," Cohen said.

The ACLU took a similar tone. "Officials should move to rebuild the community and make clear that everyone is welcome," said Jeanne LoCicero, deputy legal director of the ACLU of New Jersey.

As Porrino said in the statement Tuesday, he believes the "bottom line is very simple."

"The township council in Mahwah heard the angry, fear-driven voices of bigotry and acted to appease those voices," he said.

Sara Jerde may be reached at sjerde@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SaraJerde.

Allison Pries may be reached at apries@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @AllisonPries. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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