Johnson City Commission honors Lottie Ryans for service career

Johnson City commissioners awarded longtime community servant Lottie Ryans with the city's second-ever "Moving Mountains" award Thursday, during the board's regularly scheduled meeting. "Lottie, when you walk through this city and you walk through Washington County, your footprints are all over it. And they will never go away," Johnson City Vice Mayor Jenny Brock said after presenting the award to Ryans. In honor of her retirement, Johnson City Mayor Greg Cox also presented Ryans with a proclamation recognizing her decades of public service. After the presentations from the mayor and vice mayor, the commission chamber audience gave Ryans a standing ovation. "The work that I've done was really a godsend and one where I was able to take the things I love and just do good work every day because of people like the city commission and the city staff," Ryans said. Ryans is retiring from her role as director of workforce and literacy initiatives for First Tennessee Development District, a position she's held since 2016. During her time with FTDD, she spearheaded workplace readiness initiatives for the region's students, including CareerQuest TN and Education to Employment Summit. Ryans also served three terms on the Johnson City Board of Education after a 32-year career in telecommunications. The commission also unanimously approved everything on its agenda Thursday, including a supplemental budget ordinance for fiscal year 2026 and a $900,000 school resource officer grant. The supplemental budget amends Johnson City's fiscal 2026 budget to reflect the added expenses and revenue. The supplemental budget also addresses any amendments made to school funds by the Johnson City school board. All the additional expenses or revenue in the supplemental budget besides the school operating charges have already been approved by the commission over the past year. The commission's vote Thursday just means these changes will officially be reflected in the final fiscal 2026 budget.