Candidate for
Director; Municipal Water District of Orange County; Area 7

A Biographical Sketch of Judy Johnson (2000)

Judy Johnson offers more than 25 years of communications consulting experience and expertise to a variety of clients and organizations. While her organization, established in 1993, Sterling Communications, offers a full range of professional services, her special focus is on public policy communications, community relations and public participation. Before establishing Sterling Communications, Johnson was Vice President and Principal at Thomas Wilck Associates. During the nearly eight years she was with the agency, she served as senior counsel for all public affairs and public agency clients and infrastructure projects.

Clients benefit from her ten years of experience in Washington, D.C. which added depth and perception to how government and the community interact, negotiate and compromise. She has personally facilitated community meetings on behalf of public agencies to discuss infrastructure issues such as land use, water quality and transportation.

Johnson was a member of the Nixon White House staff for more than five years, working with Henry Kissinger, National Security Advisor, and Ron Ziegler, Press Secretary. Her research and writing projects include research for former President Nixon's RN: A Memoir; Editor of Tax Action Report, a nationwide newsletter on the tax reduction movement; feature articles for Southwest Art Magazine and a wide variety of special qualitative research reports for public and private clients. Her experience includes Executive Assistant to former Orange County Supervisor Phil Anthony.

Johnson served on the California Water Quality Control Board, San Diego Region (Vice Chair 1993, Chair 1994 and 1995) (appointed by Governors Deukmejian and Wilson) from 1988 through September 1998 and chaired the Interagency Water Quality Panel for San Diego Bay (a consortium of 31 public, private and non-profit organizations) (1994-1998). She served on the San Clemente Parks and Recreation Commission (Chairman), San Clemente Traffic and Parking Commission, the citizens advisory committee to the Orange County Transportation Commission, the California Auctioneer Commission (Governor Deukmejian appointee), the Citizens' Advisory Committee to the Orange County Transportation Authority (Gary Hausdorfer appointee), and the Discipline Review Board for the California Auctioneer Commission. She currently chairs Orange County's Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy Committee (Supervisor Tom Wilson appointment) and was elected to the Republican Central Committee of Orange County in June 1998.

She is a graduate of Wisconsin State University at Eau Claire (BA degree, 1966) and lives in San Clemente, CA.