Candidates for the Washington County Commission’s 25 available seats are now set.District 1 encompasses part of northwestern Johnson City and the county’s Oak Grove community, and five candidates will vie for three spots in the May 6 Republican Primary; one independent will be on the Aug. 7 general election ballot.Incumbents Doyle Cloyd, Gregg Matherly and Pete Speropulous will run against Republicans Rick Storey and Lee Sowers. Independent Jonathan Griffith will run in August. Matherly, 45, was born in Johnson City and graduated from Daniel Boone High School. He also studied psychology at East Tennessee State University before working with his father on the family farm. He worked for four years as a retail manager at the Mize Farm and Garden Supply on Watauga Avenue.He worked at Mountain Empire Animal Hospital in service and sales and took a job with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office in 1994 as a detention officer. One year later, he began driving inmates to work details and was then transferred to the Support Services Division, where he served warrants and acted as court bailiff.While working, he graduated from the Walter State College Police Academy in Morristown and moved to the Sheriff’s Office headquarters, as a public information deputy. Matherly then took a position as a sergeant overseeing the Sheriff’s administrative arm and later transferred to a position overseeing the Warrant Service Division. He was promoted to lieutenant in 2009, and four years later he was promoted to captain, overseeing Community Services.“The first thing I want to say is that if I’m elected, this will be my final term,” Matherly. “There are several issues coming forward that need attention, including school construction. I recently was appointed to the Washington County Economic Development Council Board, and I see a lot of good work going on there. When I got there the first thing I jumped into was getting rid of the county’s economic development board and making the WCEDC our sole economic arm.”Matherly is married and has two children.He first was elected to serve in 1998, and this would be his fourth term. Matherly currently is the Washington County Commission chairman. Cloyd, 75, was born in Telford and went to Sulphur Springs High School. He attended ETSU and then went to work as a surveyor with the state’s highway department. Cloyd bought a full service car wash which he operated on Market Street in Johnson City. He and his brother built homes in the area, and he also owned apartment buildings, including The Top of the Tower. “I want to finish some projects I started with the County Owned Property Committee,” he said. “I think I’ve served the community well, and held the tax rate down as low as possible. My record stands well being a very conservative person. I’ve attended Unaka Avenue Baptist Church for 48 years where I serve as a deacon.”Cloyd is married and has one child.He was elected as county clerk in 1994, and held that position for 16 years. He is seeking his second term as a commissioner.Speropulos, 57, was born in Johnson City and attended Science Hill High School. He joined the U.S. Army and served from 1975-’79. He later graduated from ETSU with a bachelor’s degree in geo-sciences and formed Speropulos Construction while he was still in school. In 2007, he obtained his commercial insurance license, and he maintains that occupation today working with business to establish liability and worker’s compensation plans.“I was brought up to give back to the community,” he said. “I enjoy knowing what’s going on around me, and this gives me an opportunity to do that. Hopefully I can help my constituents and everyone in the county. The biggest thing I want to see is more economic development in the county. Sullivan County and parts of Virginia are eating our lunch. I’m also concerned about public safety and working with our firefighters to make sure they’re up to snuff.”Speropulos is married and has two children.He was first elected as a county commissioner in 2002 and is seeking a fourth term. Storey, 65, was born in Kingsport and raised in the Jonesborough area. He attended the old Boones Creek High School and studied business at ETSU, where he later received an honorary degree. He also received a degree in banking from Louisiana State University.Storey was drafted in 1968 and entered the U.S. Army. He returned home with a medical discharge one year later after being wounded in Vietnam. He also was awarded the Purple Heart.He worked for First Tennessee Bank, Bank of America and has spent the last 10 years at Citizens Bank. He is Appalachian State Fair Board president and serves on the Johnson City Housing Development Authority and Washington County Economic Development boards.“I think I can bring a positive approach to the County Commission,” he said. “We’re all citizens of Washington County, and it seems like there is limited conversation on what’s best for all Washington County residents. Some people are launching their campaigns on the fact that there’s too many commissioner. I think it’s more a matter of communicating. I’m open-minded. We just need to sit down and put our cards on the table.”Storey is married and has two children, two grandchildren and three step-grandchildren.He has never run for public office.Sowers, 70, was born in Killeen, Texas, at the U.S. Army base at Fort Hood. He grew up in Colorado, graduating from Denver Lutheran High School. He received a business degree from the University of Colorado Denver and worked as a plant manager at General Cable Corporation.He then moved to Dallas to become manager of an explosives manufacturing plant owned by Thermex Co. He was transferred to Jackson Hole, Wyo., and became the company’s vice president of marketing, and also worked with the company back in Dallas and then in East Tennessee.In 1989, he began a career in real estate in Greeneville with Century 21, Billy Williams and Associates. In 1992, he moved to Johnson City and bought Century Act III Realty Inc., which he still owns. He has been Johnson City Sports Foundation president for three years.“I’m concerned about the lack of cooperation,” he said about the County Commission. “I have no agenda. I owe no one. I’d like to see commissioners’ terms limited to two, and a reduction of commissioner from 25 to 18. Personally, I would not take the county’s insurance. I want to take my cooperative skills and do what’s best for the county, that includes keeping costs down.”Sowers is married and has two children and five grandchildren.He ran unsuccessfully as a candidate for what is now Tennessee’s 6th House District and for a seat on the County Commission’s 1st District during the last election. Griffith, 51, has lived in Washington county all his life, settling in Jonesborough in the 5th grade. He graduated from David Crockett High School and received a degree in civil engineering from the University of Tennessee Knoxville.He worked for the City of Johnson City as an engineer for nine years and in sales and marketing at Permatile Concrete Products in Bristol, Va., for the last 18 years.“I’ve had some friends pushing me to run,” Griffith said. “They (commissioners) talk about responsible government, but they take insurance and $4,500 a year. I’m for smaller government. We’ve got 10 districts. I’d like to see 10 commissioners. I would like to see no free insurance. Some of them don’t take it.”Griffith is married and has two children. He has never run for public office.
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