Bet Shalom Building Committee
by Tony Johnson with Eric Bressler
Eric: Recently I interviewed Tony Johnson, the chairman of Bet Shalom’s Building Committee. He agreed to familiarize us with the functions of the committee and about its members.
Thanks for talking with me about the building committee, Tony. Please tell us the general responsibilities of the committee and its position in Bet Shalom’s organization.
The Building Committee serves in a volunteer advisory capacity to the Bet Shalom Director of Operations, Amber Brumbaugh, and the Board of Trustees. Our primary role is to identify requirements for short- and long-term building maintenance and to provide the support required for efficient execution.
How did you become the chairman of the committee?
Rabbi Locketz contacted me in the Spring of 2023 to ask me if I’d be interested in becoming the Chairman of the Building Committee. He has long known my background as a general contractor and a member of Bet Shalom. My brother, father and I own a small deck building company called Pluto Decks. I majored in Real Estate at St. Cloud State and have a background in multi-family loan underwriting. I have always had an underdeveloped interest in commercial buildings and decided this would be a neat opportunity. The first year was spent meeting with Amber Brumbaugh and several vendors and starting to define the scope of what needs to happen with the building committee. While I learned a great deal about how the building operates, I was ultimately the Chair of a one-man committee. It wasn’t until Jason Bretz and Mark Robbins took me under their wings in 2024 that we started to resemble an actual committee (see below).
Tell us about yourself and your family.
I have been a member of Bet Shalom for around 20 years. I finalized my conversion to Judaism with Rabbi Cohen and Rabbi Locketz in May of 2005 and joined Rabbi Locketz on a trip to Israel in Summer of 2006. This was shortly after I met my then fiancee and now wife, Deborah, on the Jewish dating website J-Date. Deb was a traveling nurse from Chicagoland at the time. She messaged me on the app, saying that her membership was expiring the next day and she was using the internet access at a library. In other words, it was then or never. We were married at Bet Shalom in June of 2007 and have raised two daughters, Adina (15) and Dani (14) through the Bet Shalom Religious School. Both girls had b’nei mitzvot at 13 and remain active today as students and madrichot. We are a big dog family and have a Goldendoodle named Brisket and a Sheepadoodle named Miriam.
Who do you interact with on Bet Shalom’s paid staff and in what ways?
The Building Committee primarily interacts with Amber Brumbaugh, the Director of Operations. She wears many hats and balances an impressive number of stressful situations. We are fortunate to have Amber employed at Bet Shalom.
Who are the other members of the committee currently? Tell us about what experiences and skills they bring to bear on their work on the Building Committee.
The other members of the Building Committee are Jason Bretz, Mark Robins, and Derek Nor
Jason Bretz is part of the Leadership Committee at Bet Shalom. He is a Senior Vice President of a commercial construction company and thus has extensive knowledge of commercial construction and related building systems. His expertise and willingness to educate other members of the committee is extremely valuable. He is quite organized and keeps the building committee on task and priority focused.
Mark Robbins is a member of the Bet Shalom Board of Trustees. He is a member of the Finance Committee, volunteers with the Kugel Kindness program and participates in adult education programs. He supports the Building Committee with his sage wisdom, his connections to other Bet Shalom leaders and his consistent ability to ask thoughtful questions.
Derek Nor is part of the AV/Tech team that is responsible for sound in the sanctuary and streaming services and events to members’ homes. He recently added the Building Committee to his list of service opportunities. He brings a curiosity about how things work and an instinct for problem solving.
What are the current and future challenges for Bet Shalom and for your committee regarding our congregational home?
Our building is aging and so is its equipment. It’s easy to take for granted the general comfort and safety that we feel as we worship in the sanctuary or wait in the social hall for our kids to finish religious school. As it turns out, there is a whole world of equipment in the basement that most of us have never seen. There are boilers, air handlers and fire suppression systems. There are pumps and tanks and filters. The whole building is a maze of sensors, valves and dampers that all need to work in perfect harmony for optimal efficiency. Our HVAC system is our current and near-term biggest priority. Our biggest challenge is related to an antiquated automation system.
Are you looking for new members of the committee with specific skill sets that would complement those of the existing members?
The committee is in a formative phase. While we have mostly worked through a charter document and have an evolving vision for the future, we don’t currently have assigned positions. We are interested in growing the building committee and are looking for people to focus on specific areas of building maintenance. All are welcome to participate in the building committee. Ideal members have an interest in the physical operations of our sacred building, are more organized than I am, and are good at solving puzzles.
Anything else you would like to share with our readers?
Becoming active in a committee is a great way to create or enhance your connection to Bet Shalom. For many years dropping off and picking up my kids on Sundays and Wednesdays was the extent of my membership involvement. Since I have become more active, I feel a renewed interest in Bet Shalom and in growing my Jewish identity. I’ve become a regular attendee of Shabbat services and have even committed to an adult b’nei mitzvah class that meets with Cantor Havilio. Being busy and stressed has always been an excuse for me not to participate, though it has since become a reason to participate!