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From a barefoot dash through a hurricane to 10 years in office, this beach city mayor's roots run deep

 
R.B. Johnson in his personal two story library in his Indian Rocks Beach home. Johnson the outgoing mayor of Indian Rocks Beach. JIM DAMASKE   |   Times
R.B. Johnson in his personal two story library in his Indian Rocks Beach home. Johnson the outgoing mayor of Indian Rocks Beach. JIM DAMASKE | Times
Published April 9, 2018

INDIAN ROCKS BEACH

In 1985, as Hurricane Elena hammered the west coast of Florida over Labor Day weekend, R.B. Johnson, then 23, stayed at his family's beachfront cottage as long as he could. From his window, he watched monstrous waves crash into the Indian Rocks Beach Pier, a landmark built and co-owned by his grandfather, Carl H. Moseley, in 1959.

"Everyone was worried about that pier,'' he recalled.

But when a mandatory evacuation was issued on Friday night, he had to go.

"I remember before I left I walked out and told an employee still on the pier it might be a good time to go. As we walked off, we could see the waves crashing below us. I believe we were probably the last ones on it.''

As old-timers will tell you, Elena stalled just off Pinellas County's beaches, churning and swirling for several days. And one of its most beloved casualties was the pier on 12th Avenue, considered at one time to be the longest in the state.

"Even before I left, I saw pilings breaking away,'' Johnson said.

Fast forward 33 years. On March 27, Johnson sat behind the dais as mayor of Indian Rocks Beach one last time. After 10 years, five consecutive two-year terms, Johnson, who recently got married, had decided the time was right to hand over the gavel. Joanne "Cookie'' Kennedy will now take his place.

"I just think I pretty much did everything I set out to do,'' he said. "I first got into it because there were lots of conflicts between residents, differences of opinion back then,'' he said. "Now, things are calmer.''

Johnson may be stepping out of the public eye, but if you have ever talked to the 56-year-old about Indian Rocks Beach, you know to believe him when he says, "I plan on sticking around.''

Back to Labor Day weekend 1985. Johnson had evacuated to a relative's home in Tampa but remained anxious about the family's properties, including the cottage and the pier. As soon as he felt he could make it safely, he jumped in his Subaru and headed back to the beach.

"The bridges, the Howard Frankland, the Gandy and the Courtney Campbell were all closed to traffic, so I drove the long way through Oldsmar to get there,'' he said.

When he got to the Walsingham Bridge on the approach to Indian Rocks, he parked his car at a mobile home park.

"The bridge was down because of wind, but nobody was really supposed to cross it. I jumped out of my car and ran all the way to the cottage in my bare feet,'' he said.

Johnson first checked on the cottage. Other than the exterior being sprinkled with sand in every nook and cranny, it was okay.

"Then I wanted to look at the pier, but it was impossible to get close. I could only go around the corner and look out at it, and the waves were smashing against the seawall. All I could see was white foam splashing up in the air,'' he said. "But I could tell it was gone.''

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One week later, Johnson left for graduate school to study history at City University of New York.

"It was decided it would be too expensive to rebuild the pier,'' Johnson said.

In 1989, Johnson moved back to the beach to work with his family's real estate holdings, living in the cottage, and in 2003, after the family decided to split the pier property in parcels and sell it, he built a home on a portion handed down to him from his mother, Martha Moseley Johnson.

"I've always felt lucky to have the property passed down to me, and with that I have felt an obligation to not just take care of the property and to keep it in the family, but to take care of the community as well,'' he said. "I know I'm in a unique position.''

When Johnson began building his 2,600-square-foot home, with an initial $300,000 investment, he kept in mind how the Indian Rocks Pier held a special spot in the city's past. If you look close enough, when you stand on Johnson's patio, you can spot remnants of the pier's green patio that Johnson has left uncovered. And, in the southwest corner sits the pier's old bike rack. In the front yard, directly across from the 12th Avenue Park (on land once owned by Moseley), several pilings serve as border for his plants and flowers.

On Tuesday, as he prepared for his last city meeting, Johnson, who recently married Sarah Douglas, sounded a bit nostalgic.

"I've been saying for weeks that I haven't felt particularly different, but today it is a little odd,'' he admitted.

He was also making a to-do list for the days to come. In his library, the biggest room in the house with more than 4,000 books, he plans to install a spiral staircase. With help from his wife, he hopes to find a permanent drapery for the library's grand window, more than 20 feet high. There's also another bathroom that needs to be completed, and outside, there are sea oats in temporary pots ready to be planted along the dunes.

"I'm still doing a little bit of this and that on the house,'' he joked. "I used to tell people that the house would be a 10-year project, but it has turned into a 20-year project, so yes, I will be here for a while.''

Editor's note — This article was changed to reflect the following correction:

Hurricane Elena destroyed the Indian Rocks Beach fishing pier in 1985. A photo caption March 30 gave an incorrect date.

Contact Piper Castillo at pcastillo@tampabay.com. Follow @Florida_PBJC.