| Message from OGRA President Paul Johnson |
| On February 27, 2010 Paul Johnson, Operations Manager for the County of Wellington, began his tenure as OGRA President.
The following speech was delivered to delegates at the 2010 ROMA/OGRA Combined Conference
On February 27, 2010 Paul Johnson, Operations Manager for the County of Wellington, began his tenure as OGRA President.
The following speech was delivered to delegates at the 2010 ROMA/OGRA Combined Conference
It is my distinct pleasure and humble honour to stand here as OGRA’s President for the coming year.
My first official duty is to call Eric Rutherford forward and present him with a life membership in OGRA as well as a Past President pin.
Eric, under your leadership, OGRA has made significant process towards fulfilling its mandate. You have championed the inclusion of First Nations and northern communities. Thank you Eric and congratulations on a job well done.
I want to acknowledge the effort and contribution of David Leckie who is leaving the Board to join the Advisory Board of Past President and who I hope will continue to make a contribution there. His sage counsel will be missed.
I also want to welcome John Parsons, Division Manager, Transportation & Roadside Operations with the City of London to the Board of Directors. You are joining a Board that works hard, keeps it eye on the big picture and never forgets who it is represents.
I want to thank the County of Wellington, its council and staff for supporting me in the past, and providing me the support to succeed in the coming year.
I want to thank my wife, Paula, who offers her support to me in all that I do. Thank you for the opportunity to serve as President.
As you can obviously tell I am not a politician however I have grown up surrounded by politics. Speaking of “growing up”, my 3 ˝ year old grandson Ethan asked me the other week “Papa what are you going to be when you grow up?” Good question.
My late father Jack Johnson was an MPP for 15 years and a municipal councilor and Mayor for Mt Forest before and after late. The one thing he taught me and his successor Ted Arnott is not to promise people things you have no control over.
I therefore cannot promise that OGRA will successfully lobby government for sustainable funding but I can promise you that OGRA will keep asking and keep trying.
I cannot promise you that OGRA can fix the financial woes of municipalities but I can promise you that OGRA will continue to work with Municipalities and our First Nations people to develop tools such as MDW and Best Practices to help municipalities through these difficult times.
I cannot promise you that I will be the best President OGRA has ever had but I can promise you that I will work with our fantastic and dedicated staff and Board of Directors to work towards making us known not as the Ontario Good Roads Association but the Ontario Great Roads Association.
Thank you!
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