Otis Samuel Johnson (born 1942) is an American social worker, educator and politician from the U.S. state of
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
who served as the
Mayor of Savannah from 2004 until 2012. He is a member of the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
.
Background
Mayor Johnson is a Savannah native who graduated from
A.E. Beach High School in 1960, Armstrong Junior College (now
Armstrong State University Armstrong may refer to:
Places
* Armstrong Creek (disambiguation), various places
Antarctica
* Armstrong Reef, Biscoe Islands
Argentina
* Armstrong, Santa Fe
Australia
* Armstrong, Victoria
Canada
* Armstrong, British Columbia
* Armstrong, O ...
) in 1964 (the first
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
to graduate from that school) and the
University of Georgia
, mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things."
, establ ...
(
A.B.
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...
) in 1967.
He served from 1959 to 1965 in the
U.S. Naval Reserve
The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Se ...
. In 1969, he earned a master's degree in social work from
Clark Atlanta University and, in 1980, he received his
Ph.D.
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
from the Heller School of Social Policy and Management at
Brandeis University
, mottoeng = "Truth even unto its innermost parts"
, established =
, type = Private research university
, accreditation = NECHE
, president = Ronald D. Liebowitz
, ...
.
Before becoming mayor, Johnson worked for the Economic Opportunity Authority,
Model Cities Program, and
Savannah State University
)
, established =
, closed =
, type = Public historically black university
, parent = University System of Georgia
, academic_affiliation = Space-grant
, endowment ...
. From 1983 until 1988, he served as the City Council Representative from the second district of Savannah. He then became the Executive Director of the Chatham Savannah Youth Futures Authority.
Political career
City Alderman
Johnson served as the Alderman of District #2 in Savannah from 1982 to 1988. He resigned in 1988 to accept a position as Executive Director of the Chatham Savannah Youth Futures Authority.
County Board of Education
In 1999, he began a four-year term on the Savannah-Chatham County Board of Education.
Mayor
In November 2003, Johnson was elected to a four-year term as
Mayor of Savannah against two-term Alderman
Pete Liakakis (
Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
), and four other candidates. He took office in January 2004.
In April 2005, Mayor Johnson publicly challenged Savannah's African American community to begin a concerted effort to address the city's high crime rate, especially in predominantly black neighborhoods of the city. Johnson stressed that criminal acts in Savannah were often perpetrated by young African American males on their own community, and he called a series of well-attended town meetings to address the problem.
On April 2, 2007, Johnson announced he would seek reelection to the office of Mayor. His second campaign is similar to the first in that he is focused on neighborhood improvement, crime reduction, poverty reduction and providing more affordable housing.
While campaigning, Johnson announced that Savannah had been declared a ''Preserve America'' city by the
U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
On November 6, 2007, Johnson beat a field of 5 other candidates to win a second term as Mayor. Johnson got 12,826 votes. His nearest competitor got 2,359 votes.
Johnson endorsed candidate
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
in the
presidential election of 2008.
Personal life
In 2006, Otis Johnson was hospitalized after he had a heart attack while attending a conference for black mayors. While he was away from City Hall for weeks, he made a full recovery.
Electoral history
Mayor of Savannah, 2003
Threshold > 50%
First Ballot, November 4, 2003
Second Ballot, November 25, 2003
Mayor of Savannah, 2007
Threshold > 50%
First Ballot, November 6, 2007
Footnotes
External links
Mayor's official siteotisjohnsonblog.comThe Otis Johnson blog
Otis for Mayor campaign website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Otis
Living people
Mayors of Savannah, Georgia
African-American mayors in Georgia (U.S. state)
University of Georgia alumni
Brandeis University alumni
Clark Atlanta University alumni
Savannah State University faculty
1942 births
21st-century American politicians