Rosalie Johnson Acting Chair & Chief Administrator
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Chief Johnson was nominated by Governor Mikie Sherrill to serve as Chair and Chief Administrator of the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission on January 20, the Governor’s first day in office.
A U.S. Navy veteran, Chief Johnson is also a veteran of Motor Vehicle administration, having served 10 years in leadership roles in the Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles and another year as a motor vehicles consultant nationally. Governor Sherrill cited the Chief’s “wide breadth of experience in streamlining motor vehicle agency operations’’ when announcing her decision to appoint Chief Johnson.
Chief Johnson helped lead several important advancements in motor vehicle administration in Colorado, including boosting the state’s REAL ID compliance rate to 97%, reducing average agency wait times from 45 to 15 minutes and rolling out a secure mobile driver license initiative. Following her time in Colorado, Chief Johnson traveled the U.S. as a highly valued consultant on motor vehicle administration.
In view of her extensive motor vehicle experience, Chief Johnson, in the early going of her tenure leading the MVC, likes to say: “I’m not new to motor vehicle administration, but I am new to New Jersey MVC and am excited to learn from and with this team as we create efficiencies for our customers” Chief Johnson adds that she is relying on a talented and knowledgeable veteran MVC Executive and Senior Staff leadership team to help advance initiatives that will include improved agency services and capabilities in areas that include developing secure mobile driver licenses and IDs and enhancing access to REAL ID.
The Chief further notes her passion about motor vehicle administration, citing motor vehicles’ position as arguably the largest point of contact between the public and state government in terms of the pure numbers, with literally millions of customers interacting with the MVC annually. Chief Johnson points to the positive impact those interactions can have – from obtaining secure identification, to freedom of mobility through driver licenses and vehicle titling, to roadway safety and voter registration.
“I’m very passionate about MVC and DMV work and the lives that we change in a positive way because of the work that we do,’’ Chief Johnson says.
The Chief quickly made a name for herself among the frontline staff at the NJMVC as approachable and accessible by regularly visiting agencies and units in the Trenton headquarters with boxes of donuts as her way of showing appreciation, breaking the ice with her new team, and learning from MVC employees directly as a key source to where improvements can be made.
As to her personal experiences, in her service in the U.S. Navy, Chief Johnson travelled the world, from Thailand to Bahrain and beyond. The native Coloradan and widowed mother of two teenagers says she looks forward to putting down roots as a family in the Garden State. She wants to experience as a family all New Jersey and the Northeast has to offer, from the Jersey Shore and Revolutionary War historic sites to the pizza and bagels she’s heard so much about.