Published: November 29, 2008 09:57 pm      

Rockefeller’s state director retires

Now that Lou Ann Johnson has retired as Sen. Jay Rockefeller’s state director, the Sophia native plans to take a few months to get used to a slower pace and focus her energies in some new directions.

“I plan to spend time with my family first and take some time to enjoy our Chinese restaurant in Sophia and check out the Outback and some of the other wonderful spots we have around Beckley,” Johnson said.

Rockefeller describes Johnson as “the perfect West Virginian.”

“She is the most honest person I know. I trust her implicitly. She was a complete professional, and when it came to economic development, she had the good judgment to push me in areas where I should have been pushing harder and to encourage me to push less in the areas where I needed to do that,” the senator said.

He also remembers Johnson as a great driver.

“Her dad was a driver’s ed teacher somewhere back in his career, and that may account for the fact she’s the best driver I’ve ever been with. She could drive fast and accurately. We’ve never been stopped,” he said.

The daughter of Doug and Louise Johnson, who still live in Sophia, Lou Ann holds a vivid memory of the first time she saw Rockefeller in person.

“It was 1972 and he was running for governor. I was 14. He came to our homecoming game, and it was so rainy the homecoming queen had to be crowned in the press box. The senator spoke from there, and it impressed me that he would come down to a place like that on such a rainy night,” she said.

Her dad was the assistant principal and guidance counselor at Independence High School and helped steer Johnson in the direction that led her to the political arena.

Johnson graduated with honors from Concord College in 1980 with a degree in community development and regional planning. Shortly following graduation, she was hired as a planner for the Community Development Division of then-Gov. Rockefeller’s Office of Economic and Community Development. She joined the Senate staff in 1985 to work on economic development and became Rockefeller’s state director in 1987.

“When I was in Concord, Gov. Rockefeller was pushing the four-lane turnpike through this area. I remember the barrels on the road from here to Concord and later on the northern end I have traveled so much for more than 20 years,” Johnson said.

She remembers a young Rockefeller who had a striking presence. Over the years, she came to know him as “as down to earth as they come.”

“I have spent hours traveling with him, and the senator is such a gracious and considerate man. I have never heard him speak disparagingly of anyone. He was at home anywhere he went in the state,” she said.

“Lou Ann absolutely loves West Virginia,” Rockefeller said. “She loves West Virginians with all her heart. She’s tough as nails. She knows as much about state politics as anyone I’ve ever known, and she has the most overwhelming commitment to service I’ve ever seen. I’ll miss her terribly, but I’m incredibly lucky to have had her by my side for the last 28 years.”

Once Johnson moved into the role as state director, she helped coordinate projects and activities at four state offices. It was a job that kept her on the road much of the time.

“I will miss the traveling and the busy pace of things, but I’m fortunate to be able to retire early at 50, so I have plenty of time left to pursue some things I put on hold during my career.”

One of those things is dusting off a motorcycle she owns and taking to the highways just for fun.

Johnson also plans to hang out on property she owns in Jackson County, where she plans to give more attention to some dogs that share her home.

She also wants to revive a group she started a few years back. Johnson describes the Drema Democrats as “a progressive women’s organization designed to help get more good people elected to office.”

Johnson loved being part of the history-making decisions that brought economic development to Raleigh County and surrounding areas.

The hardest part of her job, she said, was not being able to help everyone.

“There are situations where you can’t help someone as much as you would like, and there are situations where people don’t want your help. There is so much we can’t control in this global economy.”

Rochelle Goodwin, a native of Salem and a 2000 graduate of the West Virginia University College of Law, is Rockefeller’s new state director. Goodwin was hired as deputy state director in 2006.

— E-mail: bdavis@register-herald.com