Mayor Johnson Takes the Helm of MAMA

07.18.2012

Norcross Mayor Bucky Johnson recently assumed the chairmanship of the Metro Atlanta Mayors Association (MAMA). When former chair Johns Creek Mayor Mike Bodker became GMA's 3rd Vice President during GMA's annual June conference in Savannah, Johnson moved from vice chair to chair of MAMA, a cooperative alliance of the mayors of 68 cities in the 10-county metro Atlanta region.

Elected Mayor of Norcross in 2008, Johnson was re-elected in 2010 and 2012. Prior to being elected as Mayor he served as the President of Norcross Neighbors for three years.

As the new chair of MAMA, Johnson said he wanted to maintain existing MAMA events including the annual Georgia Rides to the Capitol and the Magical Journey Circus experience for children with special needs.  Johnson plans to pursue a stronger regional outlook for the organization.

"A personal goal is to work on regional cooperation between cities and to look for ways to connect with County Commissioners and state elected officials on mutually beneficial projects and programs," Johnson said.

In 2011, Johnson served as Chair of the Atlanta Regional Round Table on Transportation.

As the non-voting chair, Johnson led the 21-member roundtable to a unanimous decision on a 10-year regional project list for the Transportation Investment Act of 2010. A Referendum on generating a 1-cent sales tax to fund the projects will be held on July 31, 2012.

Johnson also serves as the Chair of the Gwinnett Tech Foundation and on the Executive Board of the Georgia Municipal Association and the Gwinnett Municipal Association. Johnson is a member of the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC), the Georgia Municipal Association's Legislative Committee, the Gwinnett Artworks Board and the Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful Board.

In 2009, Johnson graduated from Leadership Gwinnett and the 2009 Atlanta Regional Commission's Leadership Institute. In January of 2010 he received the Carl Vinson Institute's Certificate of Recognition for city elected officials.

A native of Atlanta, Johnson served as Director of Bands and Head of the Music Department at Georgia Tech until he retired in 2002. He was also the Founder and Director of the 300-member Atlanta Olympic Band from 1992-1996.

MAMA's purpose is to foster communications among cities in the metro Atlanta region, support public policy decisions beneficial to them, coordinate activities among the cities that benefit the entire region, and communicate identified needs to federal, state and regional agencies and organizations and to the citizens of the region.