New member selected for Town Council seat
Lifelong Monroe resident has volunteered with PTA, Kids 1st
BY JESSICA SMITH
Staff Writer

Leslie Koppel-Egierd

The Monroe Township Council appointed a new member and bid farewell to a veteran councilman during a special meeting Monday.

Leslie Koppel-Egierd was sworn in by Municipal Clerk Sharon Doerfler to take the place of John Riggs, who resigned this month to take a full-time township job.

Council members and Egierd herself had kind words for Riggs.

"One conversation with John Riggs and you realize his sincerity and his commitment to this township," Egierd said. "Just as John has big shoes to fill following the devoted environmentalist Joe Montanti, I have big shoes to fill also, filling John's unexpired term."

Riggs, a councilman for 17 years, resigned from that seat on Sept. 12 after he accepted the role of township environmental protection manager, previously held by Montanti, who died suddenly in April.

Included in the duties of Riggs' new position are the roles of municipal housing liaison and open space manager. He also is currently chairman of the Environmental Commission.

He recalled starting out on the PTA's executive board, then serving for eight years on the Zoning Board of Adjustment, and his lengthy tenure with the council and the Planning Board.

"It's been a wonderful trip," Riggs said. "[My] replacement is going to bring something new to the council. [My] replacement is going to be good for the town."

Councilman Irwin Nalitt compared the council to the New York Yankees, citing good management and teamwork as a formula for success. While the Yankees lost some good players this year, he said, they have been replaced with other good players, and like the council, should be able to continue their "winning streak."

"[Riggs] has truly been the soul of this governing body. It was a great record of achievement over the years," Mayor Richard Pucci said.

Pucci presented Riggs with "the key to the town," something that he said usually goes along with saying goodbye. But it was different for Riggs, who will still be serving the interests of the town and its residents in his new position, he noted.

Egierd, a lifelong Monroe resident, lives with her husband, Michael, and their three children, Jacob, 11, Remi, 7, and Averi, 2, on the same piece of land where she was born. Her parents, along with much of her extended family, also live in Monroe.

"We can feel very safe here, raise children and reap the benefits of a highly regarded public school system and enjoy a retirement lifestyle, all within 42 square miles. My thoughts, ideas, family roots, friends and future are in Monroe Township, for which I feel privileged to live and now serve," Egierd said.

Egierd has been president of the Barclay Brook/Brookside schools' PTA since 2005 and has served with the association since 2002. Egierd was a founding member of Kids 1st, an organization that works to improve educational opportunities for children in Monroe. She has served on the township Board of Education's ad hoc and Strategic Planning committees, as well as its Drug Task Force. Her other affiliations include the Monroe Township League of Women Voters and the borough's Democratic Club.

She is employed as a closet designer and saleswoman with The Closet Doctor in Medford.

The new councilwoman said her goals include keeping the public school system up to high standards, and staying involved with parents. She will also work to preserve the town's open spaces, she said.

"I think it's a great town, and I want to keep our standard of living as it is now," Egierd said.

Egierd was chosen from three nominees recommended by the township's Democratic Committee. She will finish out the remainder of Riggs' term, which ends Dec. 31, 2007.

Helga Stoessler and Bill Allen were also nominated for the council seat.

"As the mayor, I certainly have an obligation that the future of this community will be placed in the right hands," Pucci said. "Leslie, like [Councilwoman] Joanne Connelly and [former councilwoman and current township Municipal Authority Commissioner] Lee Farber, has these qualities that we look for, not just in a governing body, but in our community."