Silver Valley graduate plays part in NYC mayoral race

YERMO • Yermo may be more than 2,000 miles from New York City, but Silver Valley High School has a direct connection to the metropolis’s upcoming mayoral race.

L. Joy Williams, a 1996 Silver Valley graduate, is serving as the political director for New York City Comptroller and mayoral candidate William Thompson Jr. Thompson is running against incumbent Mayor Michael Bloomberg in the Nov. 3 election. Williams also works as a deputy director at the comptroller’s office.

Williams said the largest role of the political director is talking to voters about Thompson’s stances on issues from schools to health care and attempting to get elected officials to endorse him for mayor.

“I spend a lot of my day time on the phone,” Williams said. “It’s about developing relationships with people.”

Thompson’s campaign is not the first that Williams has been a part of. She has also worked on John Kerry’s 2004 presidential and Barack Obama’s 2004 U.S. senatorial campaigns. Williams attended the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston where Obama delivered the keynote address.

“It was different being at the convention than seeing it on TV,” Williams said. “There’s so many things going on at once at the convention. There’s lots of distractions. Then Obama went to speak and everyone’s attention was on him. It was something to see.”

Williams has had a long history of involvement in political and social activism going back to her days at Silver Valley. She started an African American and multicultural history club at the school. Williams then attended Hofstra University in New York, where she graduated with degrees in political science and economic studies.

During her time at Hofstra University Williams worked on campaigns to raise voter awareness.

Following college Williams founded Brooklyn LIVES, an HIV/AIDS education and testing initiative in New York City.
Williams said she believes her charity and political work go hand in hand.

“In order to make positive changes you have to get the right people in office and to do that you have to win an election,” Williams said. “Even if you get someone into office that does a lot of good for the people they still have to go up for election every two to four years.”

Williams’ mom and stepfather, Glynis and Ronald Johnson, live in Barstow and work at Fort Irwin. Glynis said Williams takes her  to political dinners and functions when she visits New York.

“She took me to the Mayor’s Ball,” Glynis said. “It was so exciting. I got to meet the mayor (Bloomberg).”

Glynis said that Williams still makes it out to Barstow to visit at least once a year and that she often brings pictures of her with politicians, such as Obama, that she has met. She said a couple of the pictures her daughter sent her were what first tipped her off that her daughter was seriously entering the political field.

“I always thought she was going to do something with fashion when she was in high school,” Glynis said. “Then I started seeing these pictures of her with Al Sharpton and then Obama. It was a shock, but I’m so proud of her.”

Contact the writer:
(760) 256-4126 or dheldreth@desertdispatch.com