"Bon Voyage" Commissioner Mike Johnson

To contact us Click HERE
Clearly unwilling to cancel his annual hunting trip to South Dakota, Commissioner Mike Johnson made an unusual departure last week, in vacating the District 2 seat he has held for the past eight years. Johnson had the board clerk play a farewell audio tape to the remaining six commissioners who were present and apparently thought it was the thing to do and be present and earn their monthly salary.

Commissioner Mike Johnson

In the eight years Johnson has sat on the board, he has missed being absent in November only once, in 2005. Likewise, his absentee status from other board meetings throughout his tenure easily places him at the top with regards to commissioner truancy.  However, the taxpayers shouldn't expect any monetary restitution to come forth from Johnson, who, from time to time, had some problems getting his county "travel" expenses in order.

Back to the audio. Johnson told each commissioner, including past ones with whom he had served how wonderful each had been to him and how much he had enjoyed serving with them, especially the deceased Hatteras Island commissioner, Joseph "Mac" Midgett, whom Johnson described as "the greatest commissioner of all time" (?????--EOD will agree that Midgett and Johnson's "thought processes", a favorite term, often used by Commissioner Allen Burrus, did seem to run along the same lines).

Johnson also praised the county employees and told them if he owned a corporation he would be proud to have any of them work for him.

In response to his remarks, Commissioner Allen Burrus said, "It's been interesting serving with him".
Commissioner Max Dutton echoed, "going to miss Mike, he always kept things very interesting, to say the least". Commissioner Jack Shea called Johnson, "a great asset to Dare County". Commissioner Virginia Tillett said Johnson was "a good board member to me" and she would miss him.

Johnson won election to the county board eight years ago, defeating Renee Cahoon, who, at the time, had alienated many taxpayers with her stance on some new schools building proposals.  He ran, using a conservative Christian approach, and was later credited with initiating prayer before each board meeting, a practice which continues today.

However, as previously reported, Johnson never seemed to find his niche on the county board until the last couple of years when he became interested in, and was given a lot of credit for initiating the
"working waterman" movement in Dare County, aimed at (1) recognizing and preserving that group's longtime contribution to the county's economy,  and (2) promoting the local seafood catch.



Landfill bear hunting trips on posted
county property were a favorite of
past time of Commisioner Mike Johnson
 while in office.

No doubt it was Johnson's love of fishing, hunting and the outdoors that drew him to the above endeavors, but it was also a kind of 'achilles heel' for him. While serving as a proxy voter on the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Council, Johnson ran into trouble double-dipping on his county travel account on several occasions and had to return monies to the county coffers.

And, who can forget Johnson's bear hunts, taken on posted county property, at the mainland landfill, where garbage fatten and corn fed trophy bears were taken, in  a manner only available to a county commissioner with a key to the gate and access to county machinery to assist in dragging the bear(s) out of the landfill. 

All in all, Johnson's tenure on the Dare Board of Commissioners was something to behold, but probably no where near as exciting as an annual taxpayer subsidized hunting trip to South Dakota
(subsidized, because Johnson was being paid to attend two meetings per month, all year long).
Let's see, how much $$ does that come to?

So, EOD says, "bon voyage", Commissioner Mike Johnson, we hope you bag yourself a prize prairie dog while you're out there shooting it up in the Dakotas.  And, why not bring one home to each commissioner while you're at it?

Bob Woodard of Kill Devil Hills will be sworn in to replace Johnson at the December meeting, and he will have some interesting hunting boots to fill. No doubt. 'Nuff said.

Footnote: An inquiry by EOD to the chairman of the county board of commissioners about Johnson's November absence has gone unanswered.