Johnson City commission ballot poised to have 10 candidates

Johnson City voters could have 10 candidates to choose from to fill two seats on the city commission in November, following the ballot qualifying deadline. The deadline to file petition packets in Washington County for local elections was noon Thursday. Three candidates joined the race in the final hour, picking up and filing their petitions all in the span of three days, according to the latest pickup sheet. Those set to qualify for the city commission ballot are as follows, listed in the order they picked up petitions: Aaron Murphy – filed July 15 Sylvain Bruni – filed July 2 Dave Adams – filed Aug. 10 Whitney Goetz – filed July 7 Tricia Korade – filed July 23 William (Bud) Hill Jr. – filed Aug. 19 Bo Westmoreland – filed July 25 Pete Paduch – filed Aug. 20 (in Washington County) Jenny Brock – filed Aug. 19 Gary Kalogeros – filed Aug. 20 To secure a spot on the ballot, a prospective candidate must collect 25 signatures from voters. Murphy, Bruni, Adams and Goetz each picked up packets on June 22, the day they became available. Brock, Paduch and Kalogeros picked up packets this week, with Kalogeros picking up and filing his signatures all within a few hours Thursday. Two seats on the city board are up for grabs this election. One is held by Goetz, who was appointed in 2025 to continue former Johnson City Mayor John Hunter's term. The other is held by Brock, the city's vice mayor who decided to run for reelection this week after previously saying she'd retire after her term ends. The 10 qualifying candidates have until Thursday to withdraw from the race. Otherwise, they're set to be on the ballot. What we know about the candidates so far Murphy formerly sat on the city's board of commissioners 2020 through 2024, serving as vice mayor for the latter half of his term. He's the CEO of Good Samaritan Ministries Inc. in Johnson City and is the senior pastor at Thankful Baptist Church. Sustainable city growth, fiscal responsibility and trust in leadership are just a few of the key priorities listed on his campaign site. Bruni currently serves as chair of the Washington County Democratic Party and as a community representative on the city's internal committee for developing data center regulations. He works as a senior principal engineer and division director at Aptima, a large research and development company focused on national defense. His campaign platform is centered around affordability, protecting neighborhoods and quality of life and government accountability. Goetz currently serves on the commission and is running her reelection campaign on responsible leadership, fiscal stewardship, sustainable growth and service-minded government, according to her campaign site. She most recently worked as the executive director of East Tennessee State University's alumni association. Before that, she worked for the Tennessee Department of Treasury. She started her political career working for U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., right out of college. After that, she went on to be the special projects and legislative director for the Tennessee Republican Party. The city commission appointed Adams to the housing and community development board in July. He ran for city commission in 2018 and in 2025 applied for the vacant seat that was filled by Goetz. According to his campaign site, he's running on government accountability, strengthening small business and affordable housing. He works as a senior software engineer at VRChat, a social video game platform. Korade currently serves as chair of the Washington County Board of Equalization and is a member of the city's senior services advisory council. She has 35 years of experience working in corporate strategy and finance roles, according to her site. She calls herself a "true independent" and her campaign priorities include rebuilding public trust, fiscal stewardship and increasing support for local businesses and nonprofits. Hill does not appear to have a campaign presence online, but has run for city commission multiple times in past elections. In 2025, he applied for the city's Civil Service Commission but was not appointed. According to that application, he's a lifelong Johnson City resident and is retired. Westmoreland is a sitting member of the Johnson City planning commission and golf advisory board. The golf advisory board appears to have last met in 2022, according to information available on the city's website. Westmoreland also heads Westmoreland Dental Group, a local dentist practice. On his campaign Facebook page he says he's running on "fiscal conservatism, common sense business decisions and relentless hard work." Nearly two decades after his 12-year career on the board, Paduch is running for city commission again. He's said his priorities include holding city staff accountable and asking tough questions to ensure fiscal responsibility. He's also the owner and founder of local manufacturer HomeTech Industries, Inc. Brock is currently serving her third term on the commission as vice mayor. While her platform is still in development for her latest commission run, she's previously campaigned on economic growth, quality education and sustainable infrastructure. She currently coaches youth golf for First Tee Tri-Cities. Kalogeros also does not appear to have launched campaign efforts yet at this preliminary stage. He's the head of Peerless Properties Development and Hospitality Concepts, a group that specializes in commercial property. He's also the owner of downtown restaurant BURG'r & BARREL. In 2024, nine candidates qualified for the city commission ballot, up from four candidates on the ballot in 2022, according to election data. Looking ahead Election Day for the city commission is Tuesday, Nov. 3. In Washington County, candidates for the Johnson City board will be on the ballot alongside state and federal races, and Jonesborough municipal races. The city commission and Jonesborough races are nonpartisan. It's not too late to register to vote in the November election, either. The registration deadline is Oct. 5 and early voting begins Oct 14. Residents can register to vote in person at their county elections office or online at govotetn.gov.