A learning experience

Johnson ready for her new role after challenges of being mayor.

By: Sharlee Joy DiMenichi
   Through Debra Johnson’s term as mayor, she learned the importance of minding the details while keeping an eye on the grand plan.
   After four years as the township’s mayor, Ms. Johnson decided not to seek re-election in November. Her final day in the post was Dec. 31.
   She said one of her fondest and most instructive experiences as mayor was receiving a letter from a child who wanted improvements to a park in the Fresh Ponds neighborhood.
   Ms. Johnson, a 1984 graduate of South Brunswick High School, said the letter reminded her that those who govern best are those who are most responsive to issues that directly affect residents’ quality of life.
   "Sometimes a child who is really sincere and just really wants to be able to play in a park can make such a difference," Ms. Johnson said.
   Ms. Johnson was picked by voters in 1998 to be the township’s first directly elected mayor. Her recently ended term began in January 1999. Ms. Johnson was elected to the then-Township Committee in 1994 and served one year as mayor under that form of government. She was re-elected to the committee in 1997.
   Ms. Johnson was named the new legal director for the state Department of Health and Senior Services in Trenton on June 5.
   Ms. Johnson said she learned the importance of responding to the public from her mentor, the late Ted Cherry, a former mayor who served on council for 18 years.
   "He always just said ‘listen to the people, Debbie,’ " Ms. Johnson said.
   In addition to advising Ms. Johnson on government, Mr. Cherry served as a role model, she said.
   "He was the only other black mayor that served in town," Ms. Johnson said.
   Mr. Cherry, who died in 1998, was instrumental in her campaigns, she said.
   "He put out a lot of personal capital and encouraged a lot of people to support me," Ms. Johnson said.
   Ms. Johnson said she coped with Mr. Cherry’s death by creating an administration she hoped honored his memory.
   "You want to believe that you just put it up a notch," Ms. Johnson said.
   Ms. Johnson said that when she found herself stepping into the role of mentor to her office interns, she looked to Mr. Cherry’s example for guidance.
   Ms. Johnson said she took particular pride in her government’s accessibility to the public. Ms. Johnson said she also made a practice of talking with residents at public events to get feedback from those who did not call her.
   "The average person really only calls you when they’ve just had enough," Ms. Johnson said.
   Ms. Johnson, who served as senior staff attorney for the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark for10 years, said she is continuing to respond to the public in her position in Trenton.
   "This is an opportunity to help people get better access to health care," Ms. Johnson said.