Riverside County Board Selects New Executive Officer

From Riverside County: The Riverside County Board of Supervisors today appointed George A. Johnson as county executive officer, effective June 8. The announcement came after the Board appointed Johnson, 56, to the position in closed session following the regular Board meeting. The terms of his employment contract will return to the Board sometime in June.

Board Chairman John Tavaglione praised Johnson for his hard work in the county Executive Office and other county departments.

“We couldn’t have picked a better man,” Tavaglione said. “George knows the organization well and brings stability as we work to transform county operations during difficult financial times. I could not be happier with his selection.”

Johnson has served as the county’s chief assistant executive officer for five years and has worked for Riverside County for 26 years. Previously, he was director of the Transportation and Land Management Agency and director of the Transportation Department. He will succeed Executive Officer Jay Orr, who recently announced his retirement after 34 years with the county to accept a teaching position with Claremont Graduate University.

Johnson worked for eight years in the private sector as a civil engineer. He earned a master of arts in Leadership and Organizational Studies in 2014 at California Baptist University in Riverside and a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering at Cal Poly Pomona.

Photo from Riverside County