Credit: City of Savannah

When Savannah Mayor Van Johnson’s second and final term starts in January, he might be feeling less encumbered by political slog – a little lighter on his feet, as it were.

“Expect to see me really pushing on a couple things. First, making some extremely major decisions quickly,” Johnson said recently.

“We’ve got to decide what to do with the (Savannah) Civic Center. We’ve just got to decide it and whatever we’re going to do, do it,” he said of the downtown facility’s utility, or future existence, that’s been debated since green-lighting construction of 9,500-seat Enmarket Arena, which opened in early 2022.

“We have to decide what to do with the Arena District, Canal District, whatever they’re going to call it, make a plan, do it. Let’s get it done,” the mayor said.

Then he listed more properties and projects such as Tide to Town, described as Savannah’s urban trail system connecting neighborhoods from every city district to marshes and waterways. Eventually, long-distance walking and biking trails in the ambitious program could expand to more of Chatham County all the way to Tybee Island and network in multiple directions.

“We have the money now to significantly expand it,” he said. “Let’s go ahead and get it done.”

The City of Savannah’s proposed 2024 budget of about $560 million in spending has to be balanced with incoming revenue—and won’t require a tax increase or dipping into reserve funds, the mayor said. One focus is increasing compensation for city employees, including first responders.

Complicated, difficult issues are addressed such as public safety, affordable housing and homelessness but cannot be solved as quickly as the mayor’s earlier checklist, of course. They fall under categories of quality of life and what Johnson calls the issue of livability in a city so immensely popular with visitors and the businesses who depend on their economic impact.

“There is a very delicate balance between tourism and livability,” he said. “As I’m famous for saying, ‘Everybody wants to visit Disney World. Nobody wants to live in Disney World.’ 

“For me, it is about really creating and recalibrating that balance to make sure that people who live in this city don’t have to be unduly impacted by the tourism experience,” Johnson continued. “We love being a tourist city. We love having visitors here. But, again, our living room should be our living room.”

Everyone wants affordable housing, he said, but not necessarily in their neighborhoods. Not everyone is going to like it when tough decisions are made.

“For me, it’s about pushing the envelope,” the mayor said. “I think I did that during the first term. I really had the benefit of being on council long enough to know that you don’t fly around clouds, you fly into them. We’re going to continue to do that. Some folks are going to be mad, but we have to do what’s best for this city.”

Johnson, 55, was a four-term alderman from District 1 for a total of 16 years before he successfully ran for mayor. Born and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y., he earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from Savannah State University and Georgia Southern University and stayed in the Hostess City.

He worked 25 years for Chatham County, retiring as assistant human resources director on Feb. 28, 2020, to better focus on his new position as mayor.

In his first term, he dealt with a worldwide pandemic, a protest in the streets following the murder of George Floyd and the diagnosis that he had prostate cancer.

That was just in the first eight months.

Canceling the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade for March 2020 – raising the ire of local businesses, the parade committee and so many others – was probably the toughest decision of his first term. He said people later apologized to him after seeing what COVID wrought, particularly in other cities that stayed open and hosted public events. Savannah and its visitors were safer for it.

Another emotionally charged but totally different situation was the March 31, 2020, demonstration against racism and the killing of Black people by police. Thousands came out and Savannah was peaceful on a hot day, avoiding the violence and chaos other cities experienced. Instead of bulking up a military presence, the city “co-opted and owned the demonstration,” Johnson said, with participation by the mayor, chief of police, and other city and community leaders, including clergy.

“That was Savannahians taking care of Savannah,” he said, referencing history all the way back to Sherman’s March to the Sea. “I think we have shown the ability to really work through our challenges. I think we’re hard-wired for it.”

Johnson faced a personal challenge in prostate cancer, the diagnosis coming in August 2020 and surgery in November 2021. He happily reports he is a cancer survivor.

He also has survived these last four years navigating political theater in city council that has been described using words such as toxic, vitriol and squabbling. Johnson used the term “shenanigans.”

He was re-elected with 77 percent of the vote on Nov. 7, including wins in every precinct. His chief challenger, Alderwoman Kesha Gibson-Carter, received just under 20 percent. 

She also was his chief antagonist on the council and had given up her Post 1 At-Large seat to run against him. 

The five incumbent alderpeople who generally work well with Johnson were re-elected, which he called a mandate from voters.

“I think our voters sent a very clear message that they don’t mind passionate disagreement, but they will not tolerate disrespectful disagreement, and the shenanigans of the past, the insults, the ethics complaints, the allegations,” Johnson said. “That we should be more like C-SPAN than ‘The Real Housewives of Atlanta.’ We should make news and not be the news.”

Name-calling between council members, whether face-to-face or on social media posts, was in headlines, as were unsubstantiated allegations. While not always the target, the mayor said he tried to keep the peace. 

He calls the council “a team sport” and communication is a key. Professional disagreements go with the territory and positions can be aggressively defended, but they shouldn’t get personal. They’re colleagues, and they should be civil, whether they’ve clocked in or clocked out of the job that day, he said.

“For me, it’s never personal,” the mayor said. “In politics, you have no permanent friends or permanent enemies, just permanent interests. At the end of the day, I have to go to work with everybody. I have to be able to talk to everybody. But when you’ve created a line where I can’t talk to you, then I deal with the ones that I (can).”

The council was able to get business done, he said, sometimes with six votes for, and Gibson-Carter and two allies on the council voting against. Johnson said that bloc would vote against whatever side he was on, disregarding its merits.

“You were shooting yourself in your own foot,” he said of the contrarian tactic. “I think it was just self-destructive behavior. For me, I’m a gentleman first. So you never saw me retaliate, although some days I really wanted to. It took a lot of prayer, an occasional drink, a lot of counseling from friends, people who told me to calm down. I’m not going to go through that in this (second) term.”

He said those on the city council understand that it’s a hard and thankless job with plenty of criticism to go around, but it’s also rewarding because they can “really affect change on a ground level.” 

For example, the council made history by removing the name of Calhoun Square – John C. Calhoun was a former U.S. vice president from South Carolina and supported slavery before the Civil War. The location will be dedicated in February as Taylor Square, the first of the 23 squares to be named for a person of color. Susie King Taylor was a Black woman from Savannah, born to enslaved parents, and she taught formerly enslaved people to read and write.

Johnson lauded her story and its place in Savannah’s legacy. He said the council has renamed streets, “lifting up the stories of people, of unsung heroes in our community.”

The mayor, in his concern for the welfare of Savannah’s citizens, will be keeping better tabs on one resident. It’s reflective of his mindset going into his second term.

“I’ve been thinking about this. This was my sixth election. I had hair when I started this,” said the clean-pated mayor. “For me, the first term is to earn a second term. The second term is really about legacy building and legacy projects and moving the needle significantly. For me, I need to take better care of myself. You’ll see me really focusing on bigger things and letting the council deal with those individual things.”

As a “district guy,” the former alderman understands the importance of districts and their needs and day-to-day tasks for a mayor. He puts in the hours, including weekly news conferences and weekend updates on social media for greater communication and transparency.

One relatable goal: a greater work-life balance.

“You’ll really see me moving on more global things, really positioning Savannah for the future,” Johnson said. “I’ve been in the office almost every day of my administration. I’m not planning on doing that this term. I have to make sure that I’m around to deal with that. I might get home to visit my mother more than I’ve done in the first four years.”

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This article appears in January 2024.