Johnson believes he can lead change as mayor

By Shristi Shrestha
Journal Staff

April 25, 2008 02:17 pm

— Tim Johnson, one of the three mayoral candidates believes that the city of Commerce needs some serious changes and he can bring about those changes.
“We had some dealings with the City Council and it was not pleasant. This Council is not business friendly,” said Johnson.
Johnson wants to bring about some radical changes in the city. He wants to create favorable environment to bring in more business and industries to town.
Johnson confided that he has some large corporations that are interested in coming to town under favorable circumstances. He says that they will not only offer youth some fun activities but also help fund park maintenance.
“There are so many empty buildings in Commerce and I believe these need to be filled. We need to pursue some new businesses to come to town,” Johnson said.
Another area that needs immediate attention, according to Johnson, is the streets of Commerce. He believes that they are in bad need of repair.
“I can make this city better. They don’t have enough money so they sell tax bonds to repair roads. They do one patch at a time and this is not a solution to the whole problem. I have ideas that need to be studied to solve these problems as a whole,” said Johnson.
Repairing road problems, solving drainage problems, formulating industrial growth, creating jobs and having something to do in town are among his long and short term goals.
“We need to get something to town so that the kids stay in Commerce. They don’t want to leave Commerce every weekend but they don’t have much option,” said Johnson. “This (Texas A&M University-Commerce) is a commuter college because there is nothing to do here. I would like to make this town more youth friendly and business friendly.”
Johnson has worked with the Visitor and Convention Council in another city that dealt with large corporations and the state to bring events to town. He sees such things happening in Commerce in his leadership, which will benefit the businesses including motels and restaurants. He also believes that for such events to be successful, Commerce needs to bring in more restaurants so that visitors have more options.
“I have run businesses for 30 years in several different towns. I am very familiar with the city council and the permits. We had to plea for a permit in several different towns and this one has been the most difficult,” said Johnson.
Johnson, who is also the owner of The Drunken Mule, made several attempts this quarter to persuade city leaders to allow his business to stay open later to serve alcohol. All were denied unanimously by the council members.
Johnson was born in Clarksville, Texas, in 1955. However, he grew up in Paris, Texas. He officially moved to Commerce in 2007. He is divorced with three children.
Johnson said that he has many ideas to make Commerce a better place to live, if elected mayor.

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