Writer: Alan Mauldin
Published May 5, 2021
Albany Herald
As a member of the Association County Commissioners of Georgia’s Board of Managers, Dougherty County Commissioner Clinton Johnson has a seat at the table with a group that helps affect policies for governments across the state.
Johnson, who has represented District 3 on the commission since 2013, recently was re-appointed to another term as an at-large member of the ACCG board.
“We bring together our strength in numbers to shape policies on a lot of mandates that come down from the state,” Johnson said during a Wednesday telephone interview. “Our board shapes issues that are important to county governments.
“Our policy committee worked very closely to make sure there are not a lot of costs associated with new election protocols.”
The board represents all 159 counties, and while he is a Dougherty County official, Johnson said he also is able to voice the concerns of other southwest Georgia counties.
“It helps out for Dougherty County because what’s good for the metro is not always good for the rural or good for the coastal,” he said. “It gives a voice of a person who knows rural small towns and a little bit of urban with Albany being the county seat. I serve Dougherty County, but I serve all the counties of the state.”
On one occasion Johnson learned of a grant opportunity through his involvement on the board that resulted in Dougherty County landing $500,000 in funding for the Radium Springs area for streetscape and resurfacing work.
“That was one great benefit that came back,” he said. “Just being at the table and hearing legislative issues, I’m able to help out on the direction we need to go.”
A 2009 Scholar of the Georgia Afterschool Investment Council Institute and a 2014 graduate of the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government, Johnson also serves as a board member for the Albany-Dougherty Economic Development Commission, chairs the County Commission’s Recreation Committee and is a member of its Finance Committee. He also serves as a board member for the Hospital Authority of Albany-Dougherty County.
“The Board of Managers, newly installed, represents the resiliency and competency of county officials throughout Georgia,” ACCG Executive Director Dave Wills said. “Those who have already been in service on the board, and those who are joining for their first year of service, will continue to help Georgia and its counties navigate turbulent political and economic waters created by the pandemic and other factors.
“I am looking forward to working with the Board of Managers as we begin the return to economic and operational normalcy as ACCG continues its mission of advancing the interests of Georgia’s counties and the people they serve.”
