City Fills Neighborhood Association Coordinator Vacancy Share

• email
• facebook
• linkedin
• twitter
• reddit
• google+
• pinterest

The open Neigh­bor­hood Asso­ci­a­tion Coor­di­na­tor posi­tion has been filled, and neigh­bor­hoods through­out Mar­i­on will have access to new lead­er­ship and guid­ance start­ing next month. 

On Novem­ber 6^th, Kay­la John­son will begin her new role with the City of Mar­i­on, replac­ing Lar­ry Richard­son who had retired in January.

John­son has lived in Mar­i­on for the past nine years, and has most recent­ly been serv­ing the com­mu­ni­ty as Main Street Marion’s exec­u­tive direc­tor, breath­ing life and ener­gy back into down­town. She has also been build­ing rela­tion­ships and work­ing with peo­ple through a posi­tion with the Mar­i­on Pub­lic Library. Pri­or to her cur­rent employ­ment, John­son served her alma mater, Indi­ana Wes­leyan Uni­ver­si­ty, as a men­tor and gar­dens man­ag­er for the Alliance House, a sus­tain­abil­i­ty liv­ing learn­ing com­mu­ni­ty. She also served as an assis­tant-coach for Mar­i­on High School’s women’s soc­cer team.

Aside from her work expe­ri­ence, John­son has vol­un­teered over the past eight years for the Mar­i­on Com­mu­ni­ty Gar­den Asso­ci­a­tion as a plot-own­er, man­ag­er, gar­den edu­ca­tor, and board mem­ber. She is also an active mem­ber in her own neigh­bor­hood association.

John­son holds a Bachelor’s of Sci­ence in Inter­na­tion­al and Com­mu­ni­ty Devel­op­ment from Indi­ana Wes­leyan Uni­ver­si­ty, and a Mas­ter Gar­den­er cer­ti­fi­ca­tion from the Grant Coun­ty Pur­due Extension.

As the City’s new Neigh­bor­hood Asso­ci­a­tion Coor­di­na­tor, John­son will for­mu­late rela­tion­ships with exist­ing asso­ci­a­tions, and encour­age res­i­dents in areas with­out active asso­ci­a­tions to get involved in some way. ​“Whether that be stew­ard­ing your own yard, help­ing build or main­tain a pub­lic space in your neigh­bor­hood, clean­ing up trash around aban­doned prop­er­ties, streets or alleys, or build­ing some­thing new for the neighborhood…physically, social­ly, or pro­gram­mat­i­cal­ly, I will encour­age neigh­bors to be active.” said Johnson.

May­or Jess Alum­baugh offered, ​“I’m inspired by Kayla’s pas­sion for this com­mu­ni­ty. Through her expe­ri­ence in mul­ti­ple facets of com­mu­ni­ty-build­ing lead­er­ship, she will cer­tain­ly be a pos­i­tive influ­ence for our neigh­bor­hoods. We’re real­ly excit­ed to bring her on board.”

John­son will con­tin­ue to serve Main Street Mar­i­on as their exec­u­tive direc­tor, how­ev­er will reduce her hours there to allow for the new part-time com­mit­ment with the City.

Media Con­tact: Kay­la John­son: 765−662−1192; director@​mainstreetmarion.​com