Susan Johnson was first elected to the legislature in November of 2008, but her diligent service to the people of Windham began long before that date.
Susan moved to the Town of Windham in 1974 to attend Eastern Connecticut State University. She graduated from ECSU, and worked for Connecticut Legal Services (CLS) as an advocate for Medicare beneficiaries for more than fifteen years.
Meanwhile, Susan Johnson was elected to the local zoning board of appeals. Later, from 1989 to 1993, Susan served on the board of selectmen of the Town of Windham, leaving only to attend law school in the evening while she worked full time for CLS, and then the Center for Medicare Advocacy in Mansfield.
During her first tour of duty as selectman, Susan Johnson chaired the utilities committee and the Mid Northeast Recycling Operating Committee, which created the first regional hazardous waste recycling center in our state at Willington.
Susan Johnson graduated from the Western New England College of Law. She then entered the private practice of law in partnership with her husband, Dennis O’Brien as Attorneys O’Brien & Johnson, of Willimantic.
After she graduated from law school, the voters returned Susan to the board of selectmen for another term from 1999 to 2001. During her third term as selectman, Susan helped create the Julia De Burgos Poetry Park, heralded in the New York Times. She secured funding for a housing code enforcement officer. She later served on the board of assessment appeals, and was an officer of the Windham Democratic Town Committee.
Dedicated to the preservation of our environment, Susan Johnson serves as chairman of the inland wetlands and watercourses commission of the Town of Windham, a position she expects to relinquish soon to concentrate on her responsibilities to represent the people of her district in the legislature.
For four years, Susan and her husband have co-hosted “Let’s Talk About It,” a popular weekly public affairs show on WILI-AM radio, Willimantic, which Susan helped launch a decade ago. Susan and her spouse also frequently co-host “Windham Works,” a bi-weekly cable access TV production of the local Democratic town committee.
Susan is a member of the Connecticut Bar Association, Windham County Bar Association, Willimantic Rotary Club, the American Legion Auxiliary, Willimantic Elks Lodge #1311 and the Windham Democratic Town Committee.
Representative Susan Johnson is pleased that Speaker of the House Christopher Donovan has appointed her to serve on the Finance, Revenue and Bonding, Education, and Energy and Technology Committees for her first term in the legislature; she requested service on these three committees in response to suggestions from the voters of Windham.