Three weeks from today, Johnson City voters will head to the polls for the city's Municipal Election. Two 4-year term seats are up for grabs including those of Mayor Jane Myron and Commissioner Steve Darden. The remaining two years of Congressman Phil Roe's seat are also up for grabs.
Although the incumbents are hoping for reelection, Johnson City firefighters want a change. The Johnson City Professional Firefighters Association recently began putting up signs endorsing three candidates for the upcoming election. However, the two incumbents running are not among the names listed. Instead, the firefighters are supporting Adam Wellington, Kenneth Osborne, and Michael Hutton.
"They're young, energetic people and we think that would be good for Johnson City," Sgt. Mike Schepers said.
"It's not necessarily supporting the newcomers as it is supporting people that have told us they're going to support us," JCPFA President Sgt. Ian Keys said.
With the current commission, Keys says firefighters are just not getting that support. In fact, Keys says many firefighters feel Mayor Myron and Commissioner Darden short-changed them and other city employees when it came to the city's pay study and subsequent salary increases.
"We felt there was some money that somehow disappeared around the whole thing," Keys said.
Firefighters also worry the current Johnson City Commission won't fully support a state-backed early retirement program for public safety officers.
"We really don't see any change coming if they're the same people going on the commission," Schepers said.
Still, not everyone is begging for change. While the firefighters want some new faces, their colleagues over at the police department are happy with the status quo. At least that is what the signs posted outside of the Johnson City Fraternal Order of Police suggest. Although the organization did not return our calls, the FOP is supporting both Myron and Darden, as well as Phillip Carriger.
As for the city's firefighters, Keys says supporting the two incumbents is not an option.
"It doesn't hurt anything to get new people in every so often, especially when you feel things haven't been done totally for the city," Keys said.
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