New Canaan Board Of Realtors Names Realtor Citizen Of The Year

From the New Canaan Board of Realtors: John Engel has been selected Realtor Citizen of the Year for 2018 by the New Canaan Board of Realtors. The award is given to a New Canaan Realtor who exemplifies the qualities of professionalism, ethics, and willingness to devote time and energy to the real estate community and to the community at large, according to the New Canaan Board.

“Halstead is proud to have John Engel on its team of professionals, and his service to our community is just exceptional,” says Sharon Daley, Executive Director of Sales for Halstead New Canaan.

Engel is an award-winning agent with Halstead, where he is part of the Engel Team that includes his mother Susan, a previous winner of New Canaan’s Realtor Citizen of the Year award. He is also deeply involved in the community. He has been a member of the New Canaan Town Council since 2011 and his dedication and leadership resulted in his being elected Chairman of the Council in 2017.

He has been a Board Member of the New Canaan Land Trust since 2013, is a board member of Staying Put in New Canaan and an Advisory Board Member for the New Canaan Historical Society. He is also a long-time member and past president of the New Canaan Rotary Club, was a board member for the New Canaan Outback Teen Center, and was on the New Canaan Zoning Board of Appeals from 2007 to 2011.

While he says he’s found great satisfaction in being involved with a number of organizations in town, his work on the Town Council has been particularly meaningful.

“It touches everybody, all 20,276 people in New Canaan,” he says. “This forces me to think every day about the big picture, the long-term health of New Canaan, our strengths and weaknesses.”

Being a Realtor has been an important influence in his roles in government and community service.

“New Canaan's Realtor community numbers over 400 professionals and they are connected to every demographic, every retiree, every stay-at-home parent, every commuter,’’ Engel notes. “When we have a decision to make on the Town Council, whether to ban signs or regulate Airbnb, to build new Paddle courts, or fund a school-related project, you can be sure I hear from the Realtors first. As both a Realtor and Chairman I try and get my arms around all of the reasons people are moving in and what causes them to move out so that we can continue to grow the town without losing our soul in the process.”

Engel, who lives in New Canaan with his wife and four children, was a captain in the U.S. Army and served in the Persian Gulf War. He is a member of the New Canaan Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post 653.

Said fellow Realtor Jeanne Rozel, a past President of the New Canaan Board of Realtors, “I worked with him on the board of appeals and I know what he has done for the town, so I’m glad that he’s being recognized for all he does for people.”

Photo cutline: The 2018 New Canaan Board of Realtors’ Realtor Citizen of the Year John Engel (center), with board President Janis Hennessy (left), and fellow Realtor Jeanne Rozel.

Photo courtesy of Halstead Real Estate