Victoria O. Johnson, director of Solid Waste Services (SWS) for the City of Charlotte, NC, is called “focused,” “caring,” and “an exemplary leader” by those who have worked with her. She’s a whiz at budgeting, managing, forecasting trends, and motivating and empowering employees. She’s also known to go above and beyond. Johnson garnered attention for her role in the transition of SWS from a managed competition business model to optimization. SWS converted from a weekly, manual, dual-stream recycling collection program, to a biweekly, automated/semi-automated, single-stream recycling collection program, resulting in more than a 20% increase of recycling tonnage and a fleet reduction that reduced greenhouse gas emissions, saving the department $4.38 million per year. The new business model enhanced operational efficiency, reduced service costs, and strengthened customer service.
Under Johnson’s leadership, the department does a stellar job in getting the word out about its operations, leading to the 2012 Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) Gold Award for marketing and the bronze award for communications. Johnson constantly leverages continuing education and networking as a member of SWANA, the National Association for Black Public Administrators, and the American Public Works Association. Johnson—who was in her post for just five years when the 2012 Democratic National Convention (DNC) was held in Charlotte—led the charge in providing solid waste support for all of its events and venues. SWS employees were onsite inside and outside of the venues around the clock. SWS collected more than 7 tons of recyclables and 138 tons of garbage from uptown receptacles during the DNC. Johnson continues to institute solid waste operation improvements with a goal to provide organic collection—including food waste—to divert such waste from the landfill. Fifteen of the fleet’s trucks run on compressed natural gas (CNG). SWS also utilizes Bigbelly solar-powered waste receptacles that compact the trash when sensors indicate they are full, then sends a radio frequency signal to SWS for a pickup, reducing the number of unnecessary collection efforts.
What She Does Day to Day
Johnson’s responsibilities as the director of SWS—which provides residential collection services to more than 750,000 people—touches upon all parts of the operation. That includes collections programs: residential garbage, yard waste, bulky items, and special service collection in the central business district as well as recycling collection contracts and other special contracts. It also includes overseeing customer service and a budget of approximately $48 million.
What Led Her Into This Line of Work
Johnson’s solid waste career began as a customer service clerk in the Miami-Dade (Florida) Solid Waste department, working her way up to a routing coordinator, budget analyst, and eventually becoming the assistant director of collections. In the meantime, Johnson earned a B.S. degree in professional administration from Barry University, graduating cum laude, and has augmented her education through earning certificates from several graduate programs, including the Senior Executive Institute at the University of Virginia, the Public Education Leadership Academy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Government, and the School of Executive Education at Harvard University. Johnson joined Charlotte SWS as its deputy director in 2005 and was promoted to director two years later.
What She Likes Best About Her Work
Johnson enjoys the diversity of the work, solving problems, having an impact on the community, and working with her employees. “Many people don’t think about solid waste and the role it has in providing a solid quality of life for the community, but I do,” she points out. “I work with nearly 300 dedicated professionals who go above and beyond to deliver quality solid waste services and who really understand that our mission is not just about collecting garbage, but about helping people.”
Her Biggest Challenge
“The solid waste program in Mecklenburg County isn’t integrated,” she points out. “Mecklenburg County provides disposal for the materials collected by the city of Charlotte and towns in the county. Our innovation in providing waste reduction alternatives is limited by this structure.”
