Brock to step away from City Commission seat

After more than 12 years of city leadership, Johnson City Vice Mayor Jenny Brock said she plans to leave the commission chambers for good after her current term ends in December. "'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,'" Brock said of her time on the board, quoting the Charles Dickens classic. She is currently the longest-sitting member on the commission. When Brock first came on the commission in 2013, a period of rapid population growth was on the city's horizon. She started her term as mayor in December 2018, just months before the Covid-19 virus rattled the globe. She was also the only woman sitting on the city commission when three major lawsuits came forth, all alleging city corruption and mismanagement of women's rape investigations. While the now-finalized Jane Doe settlement that paid out $30 million to alleged victims of convicted sex predator Sean Williams was being litigated in the background, the public wanted answers from the commission. When asked about the past five years, Brock said, "Where do I start?" "These things are so personal that it was very difficult for us, because we have to do everything in public, to be able to ask those hard questions that you need to have the answers to — but it involves someone's name that you couldn't say, a victim," Brock said. "It was very difficult to finally grasp what had happened." Without being asked, Brock said, "But no, no historical knowledge that anything like this was going on. I mean, I didn't know who in the world this person was." Another challenge, Brock said, was navigating a clash between her bounds as an official and her humanity. "The magnitude, the number of victims — to know that and to show empathy for these victims and truly, because I'm a woman," Brock said. "It was very difficult to balance what you could say to show that empathy that the attorneys would not let us say because of the litigation." "The hardest part of that was knowing how we were losing the public trust because we couldn't say anything. And it was heartbreaking. I mean, it literally was … probably the most stress I've ever experienced being on the commission. It was — it just almost made you sick." "What it was doing as a reputation of Johnson City — I grieved over that. I still grieve over it, because it's not over," Brock said. Now, Brock said she feels confident in the staffing changes that have been made in the police department since the allegations and suits came forward. "It could have easily been a time where you said, 'I've failed my community.' But I always had hope that there could be closure for the victims in recognizing the shortcomings … and then making the necessary changes that were needed in the police department," Brock said. Also during her time on the commission, Brock spearheaded improvement projects that revitalized downtown Johnson City to what it is today. She was a leader in developing the city's strategic plan elements, including one of her main focuses, quality of place. "Since I was here growing up as a kid to now, I think we've just done so many things to plan what we call the 'built environment,'" Brock said. "We never really would have considered tourism and sports as an economic driver, but now we do. We build the amenities that are needed to attract people here." These 'built environment' projects include recreational developments like Tannery Knobs and park-stormwater retention hybrids like Founders Park and Kings Commons. Brock said the implementation of the stormwater basins specifically, were "sequential" to downtown revitalization. Brock grew up in Johnson City and graduated from Science Hill High School in 1967. Her first job was coaching a Kentucky high school's first-ever girls basketball team in 1972. In the 80s, she earned a graduate degree in exercise physiology from East Tennessee State University, where she would later teach the subject for 10 years. Afterward, she went on to work for two Fortune 500 companies before returning to Johnson City in the early 2000s. It wasn't until 2006 that Brock dabbled into city politics, when she was elected to serve on the Johnson City Schools Board of Education. On asked why she's stepping away, Brock said she "felt this was the time." "I think everyone evaluates their service at the end of a term and I felt this was the time to end mine," Brock said. "I say that with the caveat of making sure there are strong, value driven candidates who will be positive ambassadors for the city." "Our challenges require loyal leaders with vision and a commitment to good governance. That's what I'll be looking for to lock in my final decision," Brock said. When asked what type of leader she hopes will take her commission in the upcoming election, Brock didn't hesitate. "One like me." "One that will take things seriously, that will do their due diligence, be open," Brock said. "Really understanding what the job is … You do the job. You're a fiduciary. You look after the health and wellbeing of the city from financial and from a policy standpoint." "I think those five seats are important. As long as you understand the responsibility you have to sit in it."