The following remarks were made by Deborah Engel upon her swearing in as a member of the Maplewood Township Committee on January 1, 2023. Engel will serve a three-year term on the TC and was also elected to serve as the Maplewood Deputy Mayor for 2023.
Happy New Year!
Thank you for attending today’s virtual reorganization meeting and thanks to those that were able to make it to my in-person swearing in earlier today. I am so proud and honored to be part of this historic moment where women become the majority on the Maplewood Township Committee for the first time ever. I am thrilled to join fellow working mothers Nancy Adams and Jamaine Cripe in leading our community along with our not-female colleagues Dean Dafis and Victor De Luca.
And while we’re talking about working mothers, I have a few others to thank including my co-campaign managers Malia Rulon Hermon and Erin Scherzer. I truly appreciate your support and all the hard work you put in this year to get me to this day. I’d also like to thank graphic designer extraordinaire Kerstin Diehn who put in countless hours, Victor De Luca who served as my campaign treasurer and has given so much advice and guidance not just this year but over the many years I was a small business owner in this community, and Dean Dafis for being a cheerleader, assuring me I can do this and for reminding me every day that representation matters.
I’d also like to thank the Maplewood Dems especially the GOTV Team lead by Kathy Leventhal, Becky Scheer and Gerry Leventhal and Chair Ian Grodman and Vice Chair Garnet Hall.
And I’d like to thank my family. Matt, I am so appreciative of the foundation you provide to our children that allows their mom to do crazy things like start new businesses and run for public office. I couldn’t do this without you. And to my three girls – I know all the late night meetings and me chatting too much at every single town event can be annoying, but thank you for holding my hand and teaching me what it means to be brave.
Engel and family
I was sworn in earlier today with my childhood friend Amy Sonstein holding a Jewish bible. Truthfully, I didn’t even know a Jewish bible existed before I started planning for today’s events. I learned that it is simply the Torah in book form – the same text is written in Hebrew with the English translation. It felt quite meaningful to me to take the oath of office with my hand on the text of the Torah, as 2023 marks not only my first term in public office, but the year our family begins the Bat Mitzvah journey as my oldest daughter will celebrate her 13th birthday later this year. Just as the Torah was passed down to me from my grandparents and parents, I will be passing the Torah and its Jewish teachings and values to my daughter.
To start preparing, my Rabbi suggested I think about what I want my daughter to learn about Jewish culture and traditions. So I started thinking about what it is that I’ve learned from my Jewish upbringing. This week, as I reflected on the past year and thought of all the people I’ve met and conversations I’ve had, I realized that the most important thing I’ve learned from my Jewish faith is the importance of community and the value of building inclusive communities. So that love of community is what I will bring with me as I begin my 2023 term:
I will continue to listen and learn from our community of residents, elected officials, town staff and all stakeholders;
I will look at the services provided to our community and explore how we can make mental health supports, preventative measures and evaluations more affordable and accessible as we all still manage the isolating effects from the pandemic;
I will ensure our programming is inclusive, especially for our special needs community so that all who want to attend our town events can attend;
I will build stronger bonds with our Board of Education, as the problems affecting our families in our schools – like transportation and the shortage of after care and affordable childcare – affect the quality of life of our residents;
And most importantly, I will lead with empathy, remembering that we are all human beings and we all deserve to feel loved and safe in our home of Maplewood.
Thank you so much for putting your trust and faith in me. I am so proud and honored to have the opportunity to serve our beloved Maplewood community and I look forward to the year ahead!
Engel pictures with TC members Vic DeLuca (left), Jamaine Cripe, and Mayor Dean Dafis (right). Not pictured: Nancy Adams.
