Virginia Johnson: South Gate’s “Watchdog”

Virginia Johnson, 64, is probably one of the easiest people to spot at almost every South Gate City Council meeting.  She is always in front listening attentively to everything, taking notes and getting ready to speak her mind. Johnson is not a journalist or politician. She is not paid to attend the meetings or does so out of a desire for fame. Johnson is something of a rare breed: a concerned citizen with consistency.

“We have some really good people [in city government],” said Johnson, as she drank coffee on a Thursday afternoon at El Paseo. “But that doesn’t mean I am always going to agree with them.”

Johnson admits to not necessarily having the most popular opinions. However, her informed comments during the meetings have garnered her much respect amongst the members of the South Gate City Council.

“Virginia doesn’t just take a position in terms of complaining, but offers solutions,” Vice-Mayor Gil Hurtado. “That is the kind of thing people need to do if they feel that changes need to be made.”

Councilmember Henry Gonzalez concurs with Hurtado. Highlighting that he will always take into account her comments, because of her serious involvement.

"Virginia is one of the better watchdogs of the community,” said Gonzalez. “That is the kind of people I listen to. ”

Moreover, Johnson’s informed approach is something that , South Gate’s city manager, believes to be of great importance to the city.

“She likes holding staff and elected officials accountable,” said Troxcil. “We wish more citizens would be more engaged like her.”

Johnson, who works as a caregiver for her adult son because of a brain injury he sustained while as a child,  was not always as politically active as she currently is. 

In fact, it was the corruption scandal that was caused by the now jailed former city Treasurer, Albert Robles, along with his ousted City Council allies, that led her to start attending the meetings in the early 2000s.

“I got really involved during the recall,” said Johnson, who first started attending City Council meetings shortly after the South Gate Rod & Gun Club, a local fishing and shooting non-profit, was pushed out of the land that they operated from by the then City Council. “The meetings were like a soap opera.”

At the time, Johnson was one of the hundreds of involved residents who never missed a meeting, and kept a tab on South Gate’s most controversial City Council. However, after citizens successfully recalled Robles in 2003, along with the other elected officials associated to him, most people stopped attending the meetings.

Unlike the majority, Johnson has continued to attend almost every City Council  with few exceptions, in order to ensure that history does not repeat itself.

“How did we get bad people? Because people did not go to the meetings,” warns Johnson. 

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