Fireworks Ignite Change in Asbury Park, NJ

By Robert Graham

“Amailing from ENMU really tweaked my interest,” says former Asbury Park, NJ Mayor Ed Johnson (MA 86, BS 84). Ed earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in Political Science from ENMU. He served two terms as student body president and was appointed to the New Mexico State Board of Educational Finance. Ed is also a member of the Zeta Sigma Chapter of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.

“I found out who I was and what my interest and talents were and where I wanted to go at Eastern,” says Ed.

Ed went on to Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. after ENMU. He worked as an international internship coordinator there. He relocated to Manhattan, NY and worked with inner city students through a scholarship program and then moved to Newark, NJ shortly before transitioning to Asbury Park.

“It was fireworks on the Fourth of July that got me involved in politics,” says Ed. A sitting city councilman told Ed, “there aren’t any fireworks in Asbury Park because people might want to go to a better place to enjoy their Fourth of July.” Ed took the comments to heart and served

the City of Asbury Park from 1998-2013 as City Councilman, Chairman of the Urban Enterprise Zone, and then Mayor. Ed’s leadership resulted in a property value increase from $416 million to $1.2 billion in Asbury Park. He also oversaw the creation of a parking advisory subcommittee, which annually brings in $1 million in revenue for the city.

Ed will continue to serve his city as a private citizen through ‘Ed Johnson Asbury Park – Community Resource Management.’ When asked to sum up his public service career, Ed says, “I righted the ship, now they have to sail it.”