May 2018 - Parks & Recreation - 71

Member Spotlight: Todd Johnson
By Vitisia Paynich

W

hen Todd Johnson arrived in New Orleans to speak at the October 2017
NRPA Annual Conference, his career in parks and recreation had come
full circle. In the fall of 1987, Johnson was a recent college graduate with a
bachelor's degree in leisure studies. With his mother at the wheel, Johnson drove down
from Illinois to attend his very first NRPA conference, which, ironically, took place in
NOLA. It was at that conference where he came across an internship opportunity at
the Fairfax County Park Authority in Virginia.
Johnson recalls walking up to a bulletin board where a handful of park and
rec agencies had posted available internships. " What appealed to me about Fairfax County was that it was expanding
from four recreation centers to eight that
summer. So, I knew there would be lots of
opportunities, and it would be my way to
get my foot in the door, " he says. Three decades later, Johnson has not only reached
the pinnacle of his career, serving as manager, Golf Enterprises, at Fairfax County
Park Authority, but has also become an
industry thought leader, presenting an education session at the place where it all began for him all those years ago.
Johnson recently shared with Parks &
Recreation magazine why he wanted to
work in parks and rec, the different leadership roles he's earned over the past 30+
years, as well as some funny and unusual
park stories.
Parks & Recreation: How did you become
interested in parks and recreation?
Todd Johnson: My interest in the field
started when I was really young. My father was a college athlete, who encouraged
my sister and me to participate in lots of
sports. And mostly, I ended up focusing
on baseball, basketball and football, but
when I turned about 9 years old, my dad
taught me how to play golf. So, I just had
a love of sports and the outdoors. When
I started thinking about what I wanted to
study in college, I knew I wanted to be in

public service, but careers, like a firefighter
or police officer, just weren't in my nature
nor did they fit my personality. However,
I knew I wanted to give back to the community and, if possible, be in an outdoor
work environment. So, I attended the University of Illinois, majoring in what was
called back then, Leisure Studies, with an
emphasis in outdoor park management.
I didn't know exactly what my focus was
going to be. I just knew that I wanted to be
in parks and recreation, and I knew that if
I went to Fairfax County, I could probably
delay that decision as long as possible and
I could try everything. That's sort of what
I've done with my career.
P&R: What were some of the leadership
roles you've held at Park Authority?
Johnson: In my 20s, I got a position as
assistant program director for the recreation centers during the summer of 1988
- working my way up to program director. I did that for about eight years. Then,
in my 30s, I served as park manager at
Lake Accotink for a year. In 1997, I made
a big step to park manager of Lake Fairfax, where I opened the county's first waterpark called, the Water Mine. I served
in that role for seven years. In 2004, I
became the first general manager of the
newly opened Laurel Hill Golf Club, an
upscale public golf course. In my 40s, I
was named division director of park operations and, for about 10 years, was tasked
with directing all park maintenance, in-

cluding of buildings, grounds and athletic
fields. About 15 months ago, I took a different position as manager of Golf Enterprises, where I supervise seven golf course
managers. Our golf courses range from a
little nine-hole, par 3 course all the way
up to Laurel Hill. The Golf Enterprises
group is about an $11 million business.
Although taking this position was a very
slight demotion, 30 years into my career, I
knew what job I really wanted!
P&R: Do you have any interesting stories
during your time at Park Authority?
Johnson: Working for a Golf Medal-winning organization with more than 400
parks has provided me with plenty of park
stories. As park manager of Lake Fairfax, I
had an employee who literally left with the
circus - The Big Apple Circus. The office
manager met a boy in the circus, and when
the circus left the park, she left with it. I
was division director of park operations
when Russian spy Robert Hanssen, who
lived in Fairfax County, was making his
drops of [classified] information or picking
up money right in one of our parks. In fact,
there was a 2007 movie, called " Breach, "
starring Chris Cooper and Ryan Phillippe
- and they filmed some scenes in that
same park. So, I experienced it in real life
when they caught Hanssen and then I experienced it when [Hollywood] filmed the
movie. That was kind of cool.
- Vitisia Paynich, Freelance Writer for
Parks & Recreation magazine

W W W. PA R K S A N D R E C R E AT I O N . O R G | M AY 2 0 1 8 |

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