Three candidates are running for two Maplewood Township Committee seats in 2024: incumbents Nancy Adams and Jamaine Cripe, and Malia Herman. The primary election is on Tuesday, June 4, 2024. The general election takes place on Tuesday, November 5, 2024. The deadline for submitting a Letter to the Editor for the Primary election is Tuesday, May 28, at 5 p.m. Read our Election Guidelines here. Read all of our Election Coverage here.
I’ve known Malia for a decade, since she and her family moved to Maplewood. Our girls met as preschoolers outside the Able Baker – one of many Maplewood connections formed over butter and sugar. Today, I write to share my strong endorsement of Malia for an elected position on our Township Committee.
Over the past ten years, in addition to being a mom of two and a sought-after journalist, Malia has contributed greatly to our community. She co-founded the SOMA chapter of Moms Demand Action to demand gun safety law reform, and also volunteered on the Pool Committee, where she has advocated for greater community access in the form of more reasonably-priced memberships, lessons and disability-focused inclusion initiatives.
In addition, I have greatly appreciated Malia’s advocacy on behalf of special needs children in our district – a personal tie we share. Malia has shown tremendous leadership and indefatigable service as the former President and now Executive Board Member of SEPAC, the Special Education Parents Advisory Committee. She never forgets those who are typically left out or left behind, a quality we should all want in our local elected representatives. I know that with Malia on the Township Committee, we will see greater disability inclusion in all of Maplewood’s programs and initiatives. Malia always leaves an organization better than she found it.
Finally, Malia has been politically active in our community from the start. Starting in 2015, Malia jumped in to volunteer on several Township Committee campaigns for local office – including my husband’s (Greg Lembrich) – and brought her considerable communications expertise to bear in helping those candidates reach voters. But I’m not writing this endorsement because Malia is a friend, or previously helped my husband get elected. Rather, I’m voting for her because she has seen first-hand how much work the Township Committee is when one treats the position with seriousness – and she is ready for the job. I know Malia will bring a strong work ethic, along with excellent judgment, communications expertise, inclusivity, and a collaborative orientation, to our Township Committee.
I am proud to join many current and former Township Committee members, along with many leaders in our community, in voting for Malia Rulon Herman on June 4th. I hope you will do the same!
Alexandra Carter
