Meet Mitch
Last night, the city council wished their longtime city manager, Ed Kitchen, farewell at his last meeting before he retires. We've written a bit about Ed when he first announced his retirement back in March and some in today's story.
A quick note about Ed's retirement. There are varying levels of "retirements" among municipal executives. Some managers get outright fired by their elected bodies. Some are urged to resign amicably. Some are driven nuts by a coalition of a few members of their elected bodies.
In Ed's case, it's safe to say that none of the council members are unhappy with his management or want to see him leave.
With Ed leaving, I thought it might be good to introduce Scoop readers to his interim, and perhaps permanent replacement: Mitchell Johnson.
You can read his full bio online here. Mitch grew up in Asheville and went to UNCG for his undergraduate degree in physics. He's worked with the city since 1983 and has been an assistant or deputy manager since 2000.
Mitch is 45 years old. He and his wife, Suzanne, have two daughters and a son.
Mitch told me last night that he will be applying to be the permanent city manager. If history is a guide, he has a good shot; Kitchen was the deputy manager when his predecessor Bill Carstarphen was fired by the council (by all accounts, that was a true firing). Kitchen took over as the interim manager and was later hired for good.
Click the link below to read the story we wrote in 2000 when Johnson was brought on as an assistant city manager.
DATE: Thursday, February 24, 2000
EDITION: ALL
SECTION: TRIAD/STATE
PAGE: B1
MEMO: Greensboro Edition: Pg. B1; High Point, Randolph: B3; Rockingham: B4
CITY APPOINTS ASSISTANT MANAGER
MITCHELL JOHNSON HAS PLAYED KEY ROLES IN BUILDING GREENSBORO'S NEW DOWNTOWN LIBRARY AND UPGRADING THE RADIO SYSTEM USED BY THE POLICE AND OTHER DEPARTMENTS.
GREENSBORO
City Manager Ed Kitchen has picked a City Hall veteran to serve as the city's No. 3 executive.
Kitchen announced Wednesday that Mitchell Johnson, now head of the city's Department of Technology and Facilities, will become an assistant city manager effective March 1.
Johnson, 39, replaces William Harrell, who resigned in August citing unspecified personal reasons.
Harrell oversaw about a dozen city departments - including water, garbage and transportation - with total budgets well in excess of $100 million. Kitchen said he will decide next month which departments will report to Johnson and which will report to Deputy City Manager Mona Edwards, who is the city's No. 2 executive.
Johnson will receive a salary of $105,689, up from $100,656 in his current job.
As head of Technology and Facilities, Johnson is in charge of the city's buildings and computers. The department has 94 employees and a budget of $11.8 million this year.
More importantly, however, Johnson's current job has brought him into contact with virtually every other city agency, from police to libraries.
``That was important,'' said Kitchen, who chose Johnson from a pool of more than 100 applicants. ``One of the things that gave him an edge was he knows our organization well.
``He has worked directly with nearly every department and has gotten a good knowledge of most aspects of the organization.''
Among Johnson's recent accomplishments, Kitchen cited the construction of the new central library on Church Street.
Johnson's department supervised construction of the $14.7 million building, which has been a hit with the community and City Council members. Circulation and library cards have gone up dramatically since it was opened in 1998.
Johnson worked with library director Sandy Neerman on both the building proper and one of its key features: new computers.
Neerman said Johnson went out of his way to learn about the library's needs while working on the projects.
``He could've certainly met the expectations of his job without delving into the issues I'd be faced with,'' Neerman said.
But instead, ``Mitchell got in there and he really educated himself on issues about libraries in the 21st century,'' Neerman said. ``He spent countless hours working with me.''
Johnson also worked with the police and other departments, and with Guilford County officials, on upgrading their radios to a modern, digital system.
``It was like the difference between going from tin cans to cellular phones,'' Johnson said.
Johnson grew up in Asheville and has lived in Greensboro since 1979, when he came here to attend UNCG. At the university he was a physics major, which involved extensive use of computers.
When he graduated in 1982, he went to work for the city as a programmer.
In 1990, Johnson became head of the Department of General Services, which was later merged with the Department of Information Systems to create the Department of Technology and Facilities.
Johnson and his wife, Suzanne, live in New Irving Park and have three children, ages 1, 4 and 7.
Comments (1)
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Kudos to Ed; his retirement is a loss to us all but he earned it. Mitch Johnson is a great guy and will make a first-rate "next" for the job. We're lucky that Ed and Mitch worked so well together.
Posted on July 20, 2005 5:52 PM