This past Monday, one of Emerson Valley’s new City Councilors who took office isn’t quite as new as you might think. Deborah Johnson’s election to the City Council is actually her third successful campaign. She previously held a seat on the City Council from 2008 to 2015. It came as a surprise and a disappointment when she announced she wouldn’t be seeking reelection in 2015, as she was one of the most popular City Council members in recent history. I got a chance to sit down and speak with her about her unusual journey back to office.

Emerson Valley Gazette: I appreciate you taking the time to do this interview. I know you’re itching to get back to work.

Deborah Johnson: Absolutely. The whole reason I decided to run again was because I felt like there was a lot I could be doing to redirect the City Council’s energy into a more productive direction. But I think it’s just as important to let people get to know you. They’re putting their faith in you to do what’s in the best interest for the town. They deserve to know who I am, what I believe, and what I intend to do.

Gazette: I couldn’t agree more. I think the question that’s at the forefront of everyone’s minds is why you chose to leave the City Council in the first place. At the time, you simply cited “personal reasons,” but as you so succinctly put it, the people want to understand where you’re coming from.

Johnson: Of course. At the time, I wasn’t really in the right headspace to discuss the matter publicly. Now that enough time’s passed, I’m more comfortable talking about it. During my last year in office, my father got really sick. We had a difficult relationship for many years, because he chose to walk out on our family when I was only thirteen. As the oldest of five children, it fell to me to pick up the slack and help take care of my siblings.

Gazette: I’m so sorry you went through that. I understand how hard it is to suddenly have adult responsibilities and expectations thrust on you when you’re at an age when you should be more concerned with doing well in school and having new experiences with your friends.

Johnson: Exactly. My mother struggled with substance abuse problems for most of her life. Sadly, she succumbed to them a few years before my first bid for a City Council seat.

Gazette: Again, I’m so sorry to hear that. So what happened with your father when you stepped back from your political career?

Johnson: He contacted me right after I was reelected in 2011 and said he wanted to apologize for leaving and explain his side of things. I won’t go into exactly what was said—some things are too personal to discuss publicly—but we came to an understanding. I can’t say I condone what he did, even if I can understand where he was coming from. My siblings all lived in different parts of the country by that point, so I was the only family he had left around here.

It wasn’t long after we reconnected that he got sick. I’m not a kid anymore, and a lot of the anger I clung to for a long time had turned into acceptance after a lot of hard work on my part. I felt like it was the right thing to do, and I’m glad I at least got to spend a bit of time getting to know him again before he passed.

Gazette: It couldn’t have been easy to forget everything you had to go through because of his decision to leave.

Johnson: No, it’s not the sort of thing you can forget. Forgive, sure. But when you’re as young as I was at the time, it gets imprinted in your mind. That’ll never go away, no matter how long I live. It wasn’t just that he wasn’t around. There was a big hole left in our family when he left. As hard as it was for me, I know it was so much harder for my mother. After my father walked out on us, she couldn’t hold down on job and was in and out of rehab.

It got a lot worse after he was gone, because he had been a stabilizing influence in her life. I know as well as anyone just how hard it is to live with and love an addict. But while he got to walk away, I had to stay behind and try to pick up the pieces. My mother was in no condition to go through the courts to get child support from him. She couldn’t get alimony, either, because they never actually got divorced.

That was a really hard time for us, and I struggled a lot with figuring out how to be an adult without anyone who could show me how to do it. I really had to educate myself on what needed to be done. If I wanted to make sure we had food on the table, I had to go out there and hustle. I got a weekend job at a restaurant in Carson Hills by lying about my age, and I woke up at 4 AM every morning to deliver papers. You’re paper, actually.

Gazette: It’s a shame we don’t have an actual paper anymore. A lot’s changed in Emerson Valley since you were last in office. Do you worry that too much time has passed, and things are too different for you to be effective?

Johnson: Things are different, sure. But the core of our municipal government doesn’t change. There’s different faces and different issues on the table, but the way we operate and the goals we set are still the same. I want to help give the people what they want. Last time I was here, there was a strong desire by the public to put bike lanes along Main Street, and we got that done. Now the general feeling is that getting rid of the bike lanes to help with some of the congestion is a must. It doesn’t matter which way the wind is blowing—my job is to bring the will of the people into fruition.

Gazette: That’s a very refreshing take. I’ve talked to a lot of politicians who think their own personal opinions on an issue are what matters most.

Johnson: And that’s one of the things that spurred me to run again. Too many people on the City Council were fighting to push through their own personal pet projects. The people of Emerson Valley were screaming to be heard, but no one was listening. Well, I hear you. My eyes and ears are wide open. We’re meant to give a voice to the people who elect us. When I walk into City Hall and sit down at that table, I’m not speaking for me—I’m speaking for you.

Gazette: It’s pretty clear to me why you’re such a beloved figure in this town. There’s already some talk about you running for mayor in the next election.

Johnson: (Laughing) Slow down there! I don’t know who’s talking about that, but it’s not me.

Gazette: So you don’t have any interest in running for mayor?

Johnson: Well, I didn’t say that. I just mean that right now, my focus on the present and doing what I was elected to do. We can cross that bridge if we ever come to it. And we may never come to it. We’ll see what happens in the next four years.

Gazette: Let’s veer away from the future and talk about the past for a moment. Before you ran for City Council in 2007, you worked as a civil litigation attorney at Thurston, Everett & Dolan. I think many of our readers will recognize that first name there.

Johnson: That’s true. I worked with John Thurston for years. He was always very generous with his encouragement during my campaigns. We stayed pretty close even after I left the firm, and when he decided to run for City Council in 2019, I gave him a lot of advice based on what I’d learned during my time in office. It’s just a shame we never got to sit on the council together.

After the election in November, we sort of switched places. I went to him for advice on what was going on in City Hall over the last four years, what I should look out for, and what I can expect from the City Council members who were reelected.

Gazette: Do you feel any sort of animosity towards Craig Norton for taking Mr. Thurston’s seat?

Johnson: Oh, no. Not at all. This isn’t a popularity contest. You can’t take things personally in politics. Someone is going to run against you, and there’s a chance they’ll beat you. That doesn’t mean they’re better than you, it just means they ran a better campaign. And with how fast things can shift in politics, you never want to burn any bridges. You never know who might be sitting next to you in four years.

Gazette: Well, I hope in four years, I’ll get the chance to sit down with you for another chat. It’s been a real pleasure, Ms. Johnson.

Johnson: There’s no reason why you have to wait another four years to come see me. My door is always open to any member of the public who wants to speak with me.

Gazette: I’ll be sure to drop in sometime. Thank you for giving me so much of your time and being so open about your life.

Johnson: I’m happy to do it. We could use a little more transparency around here. My goal is to bring back trust in the City Council. If our citizens don’t trust us, it’ll be next to impossible to get anything done. However, I’m very confident that we’re up to the task. We’ve got a good group of people in City Hall, and I look forward to working with Mayor Faulk.

Whatever the future brings, I’m sure Ms. Johnson will be leading the charge. She’s exactly the sort of politician this town needs. While it remains to be seen how her fellow City Councilors will fare in four years’ time, I have no doubt we’ll be seeing Ms. Johnson in City Hall for as long as she’s willing to be there.

-William Cooper, Human Interest, Emerson Valley Gazette