Former Ottawa Visitors Center director Julie Johnson runs for mayor

As former Ottawa Visitors Center executive director Julie Johnson looks around Ottawa, she considers the growth both in the downtown and in the number of visitors who travel to the city.

She helped put Ottawa “on the map” during her tenure at the Visitors Center and she hopes to continue attracting visitors, residents and businesses. But this time she hopes to do it behind the mayor’s desk.

Johnson announced her candidacy as Ottawa mayor on Thursday. She will be on the ballot with Commissioner Dan Aussem, who said in February he plans to run for mayor in 2019. Mayor Bob Eschbach is not running for re-election.

Johnson said promoting Ottawa with the Visitors Center was a job she was honored to do, and hopes to continue to do as mayor.

“It all comes down to economic development, which is using other people’s money to improve our lives and not depending solely on our citizens,” Johnson said. “We have the momentum. I’m just afraid that by turning away from the path we are on would be a disaster for what we have established.”

One of Johnson’s earlier tasks in the city of Ottawa was in the early 1990s when, as Rotary president, they sought to develop the riverfront.

The group helped spearhead the Riverwalk project, and then her work came full circle in 2010 when she became the executive director of the Ottawa Visitors Center, promoting the Riverwalk and many other city attributes in Ottawa.

Johnson operated as executive director for six years and in that time realized success while doing a lot with less. The organization brought home state awards for best branding initiatives and best tourism marketing campaigns against larger Chicago-based companies that had advertising budgets of around $700,000 — Johnson’s entire budget was around $240,000.

She stepped down from her position in 2015 to work as an office manager and chief financial officer of Johnson Machine Works, owned by her husband, Keith, who served as Ottawa’s commissioner of public property from 1991 to 1995, before retiring in May.

She hopes to continue many of the efforts she previously promoted with the Visitors Center and said the city should be “good stewards of past funding” by continuing on the current path of beautification and revitalization.

She notes that other communities have attempted to follow in Ottawa's footsteps but the city has the framework to build upon what's come before to stand out from others in Illinois.

“Ottawa is lucky. We’ve now got things done. We’ve got a vibrant downtown. We’ve got additional investments coming. We’ve got a riverfront development in place that harkens on what we started in the '90s. We’ve got more than just the bones of the structure. We’ve got something to offer and can fulfill the promotional promise,” Johnson said. “I think we’re miles ahead of people in the state.”

She also sees the rewatering of a section of the Illinois & Michigan Canal as another future success. She recalled during her tenure at the Ottawa Visitors Center that the most asked question, one asked nearly every other day, was where the canal was located.

She said many were surprised to find they had already driven over it and believes that a flowing canal could lead to additional interest and promotional opportunities.

“It’s in an ugly phase, but I think we have a beautiful swan at the end here. It’s got a lot of potential,” she said.

Johnson said economic development doesn’t solely lie with tourism or promotion of Ottawa to neighboring communities, but it does act as a large economic driver leading to growth.

She added that you never know who might be drawn to Ottawa next, be it a future citizen or business.

“Every potential visitor is a potential resident,” she said with a smile.