Looking back on decades of service
After nearly 30 years, Glastonbury manager headed for retirement
GLASTONBURY — Glastonbury Town Manager Richard Johnson said his impending retirement will be “bittersweet,” but the time is right to do some things he hasn’t been able to in the past.
Johnson cited having worked with a professional staff and Town Council members as some of the favorite parts of the job he’s held for 29-plus years.
At press time, the Glastonbury Town Council had narrowed the search to three candidates to be the town’s new manager, and are working through the final parts of the decision, which could be imminent. Johnson said he agreed to stay on to help the town through its budget process, which is usually finalized in March, but an exact date has not yet been set.
“I was going to leave at the end of the calendar year,” he said. “Right now, I’m going to stay through the end of March. I think that’s fluid. It could be sooner, it could be later.”
Johnson said he’s not sure what he will do next, and could fill in for other towns on an interim basis as they make similar transitions. There are also parts of the world he’d like to see.
“I’ll probably do some traveling,” he said. “There are a few places I’d like to go, and I’ve never really had the time to do that. Whether I stay in some role in public administration ... I might. I’m not one of those people who has always said, ‘I can’t wait to retire.’ I very much like public service. I’ll sit back and see what comes my way. The good news is I don’t have to do any of those. I can go at my own pace.”
Successes, he said, have included having a role in the town’s land acquisition program, netting the town more than 60 transactions.
“I very much enjoy that, because it helps shape the community, preserves our farms, open spaces, and riverfront land.
All of those, I think, go to the character of the community,” he said, also noting he’s proud of Riverfront Park, including the Riverfront Community Center and Boathouse, which were all developed on converted brownfields, involved seven property acquisitions, moving a road, and building the park and two buildings in several phases.
“That’s just a home run,” he said. “If you go down there on a spring night or summer evening, that place is packed. There’s a little something for everybody. I’m pretty proud of that.”
Johnson has always maintained a professional atmosphere among staff and elected officials, to whom he also gives credit for working through differences in a professional and respectful manner.
“There are no shortcuts in Glastonbury,” he said.
“The elected bodies don’t want to take shortcuts. They want to do the right things the right way,” Johnson said. “There’s always been support for that. I’ve had the good fortune to work, past and present, with really an outstanding, professional, dedicated, creative, and successful town staff. We have a whole bunch of talented people working together to make the whole organization look good. They all ‘get it.’ “
While it isn’t always a clear path to do what’s best for the community, Johnson said that he and town leaders and staff have always put their best effort forward.
“There’s no cookbook. Sometimes you don’t know what the right answer is. Sometimes, you’ve got to figure it out, and work your way through it. But, if fundamentally, you’re trying to do what’s right, and what’s fair, and what’s in the best interest of the community, you’re going to get it right most of the time.”
Making the decisions easier for the Town Council, Johnson said, is something that became easier over the years.
“The Town Council is a very difficult role. You’re getting pushed and pulled in all sorts of different directions,” he said.
“I’ve always viewed my role as to do everything I could to help make the Town Council’s job as easy as possible, by giving them good information, by giving them alternatives, by letting them know the pros and cons,” he said. “Ultimately, it’s their decision, but you have to help them to be able to make that decision ... and provide the information as straightforward as you possibly can. If you need to deliver bad news, you just need to deliver it. Just be straight with people and be a nice person.”
Summing up his tenure as town manager, Johnson said, “I’ve loved every day of it, and I still do. I look back over the last 30 years and it’s just been a blast.”