The PHCA Board of Directors proudly bestows the 2020 Jean Johnson Award to our neighbor Jim Hardy.

Jim and his wife, Shelley, moved to Piedmont Heights in 2005. In 2013, he joined the PHCA Board of Directors where he has served on the Transportation, Planning, and Security committees. Jim was instrumental in securing the License Plate Reader cameras for our neighborhood in 2018. For the past two years, he has navigated many important issues as the president of PHCA, and he begins a new term now in 2021.

His service is not limited to Piedmont Heights; Jim has also made a positive impact throughout our Neighborhood Planning Unit (NPU-F) where he serves as the Public Safety Chair. In addition, he is a liaison to the Atlanta Planning & Advisory Board (APAB).

Jim’s community service with Piedmont Heights and the broader Atlanta area bookends a full career in military counterintelligence, police investigations, insurance crime, and security training. He is a former Protective Security Advisor for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, based in Atlanta.

Thank you, Jim, for your friendship and your continued support and stewardship of our special neighborhood, our “Small Town in a Big City!”

About the Jean Johnson Award

Jean Johnson moved to Rock Springs Rd. in Piedmont Heights in 1972. She joined the Piedmont Heights Civic Association in 1983 and served on its Board of Directors for 35 years. She chaired and served on many committees and task forces, never seeking high post nor personal recognition. She was always the calm voice of experience and reason, never excited nor angry, led by example, and offered wise counsel. Her dedication to community extended far beyond our neighborhood. She served for many years as Piedmont Heights’ representative to Neighborhood Planning Unit F, garnering much public recognition. In 2016, she received an Atlanta Planning & Advisory Board Award for the City of Atlanta’s “Neighborhoods Matter” program.

Jean was at heart a teacher. Her professional career in Atlanta included three major educational organizations: the Southern Regional Education Board, the Southern Education Foundation, and the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges, retiring in 2000. Jean never married, but the many friends she made in Piedmont Heights became her loving family.

In 2013, to recognize her long service to our neighborhood, the PHCA Board created and awarded her the “Jean Johnson Award,” which has since been awarded annually to a PHCA Board Member for outstanding service. When asked about the highlights of her life, Jean responded without hesitation, friends made and her years of service to Piedmont Heights.

Jean passed away in February 2020, but we continue to honor her memory and her legacy through this special award as other Piedmont Heights neighbors make their mark on our beloved community.