Johnson reflects back on serving city as mayor

“Memorial day service at the cemetery — that was probably the pinnacle of my experience as being mayor.”Come the November 4 election, Tecumseh Mayor Richard Johnson will be stepping down from the city’s highest office, tossing the mayoral baton to former Mayor Jack Baker. “Presiding over that ceremony, that’s the one thing I am going to miss most of all,” said Johnson, a veteran himself. “Some of the people who were honored were personal friends of mine that died in battle.” Johnson, owner of Evans Street Station, ran for mayor hoping to use his business skills to spur economic development in the community. He felt as a business man he could talk to other businessmen and thoroughly enjoyed his time spend courting potential business owners contemplating coming to Tecumseh. However, timing was not ideal. Buildings and property were virtually being given away in the depths of the Great Recession when he took office in 2010.Johnson said he was happy to have pushed for a road millage to fund road repairs in the city, as money from the state and federal government is unlikely anytime soon. We have a beautiful city, but the roads are in need of repair, said Johnson, adding that this was a one-time shot of placing Tecumseh up with the best cities.Tecumseh is a unique city, Johnson said. His push for first-floor retail on Tecumseh’s major blocks is something he felt is vital to Tecumseh, even though any decision by council on the proposal will likely happen after he has left office. “Our downtown is a vibrant downtown that’s quite unique,” Johnson said. “If another city had everything we have in their downtown, none of their people would come to our town. We have what other cities would like to have in their downtown but don’t.” He said he has nothing against those who have offices and businesses in the B2-Business district, “but we need to have retail on the first floor in downtown in order to continue our reputation as a boutique downtown that everyone wants to visit.” Johnson is talking about a proposal to regulate office space on the first floor of businesses in the downtown area.Even though he is stepping out of his role as mayor, Johnson plans to continue serving the community in other capacities. He started the Carnegie Preservation League, which will be opening to artists soon, and the Tecumseh Coalition for Youth that he started three years go is a substance abuse program specifically for Tecumseh, placing programming right into the schools, like S.A.D.D. (Students Against Destructive Decisions). “We have tremendous success there,” said Johnson, which has over 100 active members and just started a junior S.A.D.D. program in Tecumseh Middle School. “These kids are dedicated to this. I am really proud of that.” Johnson attributes his success to the great work of Tecumseh City Manager Kevin Welch, who helped the city effectively and prepared himself and city council for everything that passed through council chambers. “I felt that we did a lot of good things,” Johnson said. “The city is being left in good hands with Jack Baker. Jack’s a good person. I met a lot of nice people and I have a lot of new friends. And I don’t think I made too many enemies.” Stepping out of the role as mayor, Johnson hopes to see a good mix of industry and business where there is quality home life, kids who can go to school safely, the downtown is busy and everybody is employed. “That’s what I’d like to see,” Johnson said.