Cindy Johnson

Personal History 

I was born and raised in Alpena and proud to be a part of this wonderful community. 

 Before being elected to City Council I served on Alpena Planning Commission for 11years.  

As Chair of the Historic Study Committee, we established Alpena’s only single site designated historic district, Memorial Hall, it is registered with the State of Michigan. 

 I served on the DDA Design Committee for the better part of 20 years, helping to transition our downtown to offer a unique experience for tourist and locals. We initiated the Downtown Façade Program that is still going strong today. It allows investors to apply for up to $5000 grants to help transform the exterior of their building and the benefits of the program are evident in what you see in downtown today. It took a lot of people over many years to reap the benefits and I am proud to be a part of the process. 

While our children attended local schools, I volunteered in the school art program. We painted murals at Ella White with the 4th grade classes, collaborated with many businesses, people and ACC to bring art projects to students, that they normally would not have been able to do on the budget provided by the school system. I also volunteered for the music teachers to help with daily needs, uniform fittings, and special events. I led FFA groups, helped in classrooms working with children on computers, reading, art, math and as a parent led many knowledge bowl teams for elementary students. 

Committee Board Appointments 

As I am finishing my 8th year on council, a lot has happened through my committee assignments. 

I have been elected as Mayor Pro Tem for the last 4 years. 

I serve on the Retirement Board. We changed managers of the account almost 2 years ago, to try to maximize the returns to benefit the account. It has been a positive move and we have added the Retirement Health Care account to a similar account in hopes to bring the funding up to where it needs to be. 

The Recycling Board has been challenging at times, but we rise to the challenge. I am chair of a very hardworking committee. We have grown the program beyond our doors.  We offer residents electronics cleanup day and household cleanup day, we stabilized the budget, chase grants for equipment and needs at the facility and hired a consultant to help us move to the next step, a new facility. The Board has started the process and hopefully a new facility to grow recycling locally and regionally will be a reality in the next year or so. Thank you to everyone who sees the value in recycling rather than a landfill that will need to be monitored forever. 

I am appointed to the Huron Humane Society Inc as a council member and serve as president of the board. The Board has made many improvements to the building for the health and safety of the animals and staff. We stabilized the budget, offer the best care to our animals, work hard to adopt out animals so we can bring in more animals in need. We also, partner with Bissell and PetSmart in Gaylord, continue to grow our new building fund at the Community Foundation.  We look for grants to help with medical equipment, spay/neuters and depend on the generosity of the public for donation to help us take care of over 600 animals for the last 4 years. It's rewarding work and keeps me busy. 

Other assignments and projects I am currently involved with or have participated in, Alpena Art/Thunder Bay Arts Council, Intergovernmental Air and Water Quality, Jail Committee, DDA Design, Adopted Culligan Plaza and part of the team that is looking for grants to redesign the Plaza and Sewer and Water Committee. 

It is an honor to serve on City Council and to be a part of moving Alpena forward.