A neighbor who cares.
I came to the Johnson City area 20 years ago after Hurricane Katrina upended my family's life. What started as a fresh start quickly became a genuine home, and I've been rooted here ever since.
By day, I am a Senior Software Engineer who gravitates toward hard problems. My professional experience spans impactful work at Siemens, Amazon's Prime Video, and the social platform VRChat - places where clear goals, transparency, and follow-through matter.
Outside work, I've taken on a community advocate role - taking up initiatives that shine a light on government actions, aim to protect our community from harmful enterprises, and keep our city's success in the hands of local businesses and residents.
I live in Boones Creek with my high school sweetheart and wife of 8 years, Jessica - as well as our two kids, Bash and Charlotte. (Honorable mention to our dog, Buddy)
To me, serving the city is a labor of love from a sense of duty. I've seen firsthand how local government failures impact our neighbors, and I'm done watching from the sidelines. It's time to fight for our seat at the table.
I don't come to you from a political family, a development interest, or a friend in high places. I come to you as a neighbor with a clear vision - local government should beopen, responsive, and focused on results.
If you're looking for something different, welcome to the team.
Career Background
Background in accountability systems, legal compliance, and operations at scale.
Civic Service
“The commissioner is the bridge between residents and city government - an accountable voice to elevate their concerns and explain city actions.”
Platform
Transparency. Integrity. Progress.
Rebuild Community Trust
- Ask the uncomfortable questions publicly, on the record
- Engage residents proactively via regular roundtables and town halls
- Reduce barriers to public records and information
Strengthen Small Business
- Data-driven, collaborative decisions on last call policies
- Incentivize and prioritize healthy local growth before out-of-state development
- Reduce bureaucratic friction for new business formation
Address Housing Affordability
- Implement Tennessee HB 2623 Attainable Housing Initiatives
- Create a registry of qualified preservation buyers (nonprofits, housing authorities)
- Regulate Short-Term Rentals — currently completely unregulated in JC
- Earmark STR tax revenue directly for housing growth programs
Audit the Cameras
- Published a month of Flock audit logs as a public map, explorer, and API
- Contract-level search, retention, and expansion rules, audited annually in public
- No new surveillance capability without a public commission vote
Set the Rules Before They Break Ground
- Authored the Bitcoin mining resolution and red-lined the proposed ordinance
- Finish the data center ordinance before the moratorium lapses in December
- Operator, power draw, and water use named in public before any rezoning vote
The Full Record
Everything, in order.
Charter Amendment Opposition
Educated voters and rallied community voices against four transparency-reducing Charter Amendments. All four amendments were rejected.
Hurricane Helene Response
Assisted at a temporary rapid response community center (South Central).
Sean Williams Accountability Awareness - Early Stages
Worked with national news organizations and grassroots media to amplify a unified message of accountability and justice for victims.
Sean Williams Accountability Awareness - Later Stages
After radio silence from the city, I helped organize a coordinated community response demanding accountability. To this day, internal investigations remain frozen.
Bitcoin Mining Resolution
Authored a community resolution outlining sensible, data-driven ordinance changes necessary to protect our community from the harm of unregulated Bitcoin Mining.
Bitcoin Mining Awareness and Response
Spoke to residents, met with Commissioners, and stood with the Coalition against Bitcoin Mining to prevent the construction of a 25-45MW mining facility on Buffalo Mountain. The city entered a 1-year moratorium on Data Center build-outs and pledged to rewrite ordinances.
Community Survey - Leak
Published the 2024 Community Survey results, a tri-annual taxpayer funded survey that the city quietly declined to publish. Shortly after, the city reluctantly released the results to media.
Bar Hours Ordinance - Leak
Published city emails outlining the details of the city's Bar Hours ordinance, giving businesses and residents an additional week to prepare a response.
Community Town Hall
Negotiated in good faith with the city, community leaders, and active voices to facilitate real dialogue on unscripted questions as moderator of our first Community Town Hall.
Bar Hours Ordinance Awareness and Response
Met with the City Manager, engaged with residents, and stood in good faith with the Small Business Community impacted by the city.
Flock Security Roundtable
Engaged with JCPD and Flock leadership to outline data-driven concerns, recommendations, and demands with the adoption of Flock security infrastructure.
Mayor Hunter Accountability
First public figure to call for the resignation of Mayor John Hunter after a viral video depicted an incident of severely impaired driving.
City Commission Appointment Application
Entered the arena as an applicant for the vacancy left by the resignation of Mayor John Hunter.
Richard Tucker Accountability
Photographed and spoke on the record at Ethics Complaint Hearing regarding threats made by a sitting County Commissioner toward a constituent at an open meeting.
Depleted Uranium Processing Awareness
Spoke against rezoning for environmentally dubious depleted uranium processing in our neighboring community. Accidentally went viral for it.
Bitcoin Mining - Closing the Loop
Red-lined the proposed Bitcoin Mining ordinance changes, ensuring maximum community protection from harmful enterprises.
Housing and Community Development Board Appointment
Appointed to the Johnson City Housing and Community Development Board.
Flock Audit Log Analysis
Obtained a month of audit logs from the city's new Flock cameras and published every search as a public map, data explorer, and free API. The logs showed searches routinely arriving from far beyond the limits the city described.
What Comes Next?
That part is up to you. Put a sign in the yard, knock doors with us, or say three minutes at the mic.
Public Safety
A police department the whole community trusts.
Dave has reviewed multiple JCPD reports and lawsuits. Johnson City can have a police department the whole community trusts. Right now, that's not where we are.
Continuum of Care
Connect people to ARCH and real services. Enforcement cycles don't fix anything.
Community Policing
Build real community relationships before things go wrong.
Accountability
Full transparency on matters of public trust. No more settlements buried in closed sessions.
Out in the neighborhood
Dave, around town.
Want to know more?
Dave genuinely loves talking to neighbors. Schedule a coffee chat or reach out directly.