JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) — Residents of Johnson City convened for a community-organized town hall on Thursday, addressing various issues including the proposed downtown alcohol ordinance, Bitcoin, and the Sean Williams case.

The majority of the meeting was calling for one thing from the Johnson City government: better communication.

Organizer Abigail Honeycutt said she isn’t the only one in town who has been pushing city officials.

“What’s really concerned me is it’s not just me,” she stated. It’s a multitude of people that are emailing. It’s local business owners. It’s individuals whose voices absolutely deserve to be heard but are not being engaged with.”

Former Johnson City mayor Tom McKee participated as a panelist at the meeting. He acknowledged the concerns of residents but encouraged them to move forward.

“They want to revisit it; the people here want to revisit it. There’s nothing to be gained by that,” McKee remarked. “If they don’t like the decisions made by the city commissioners, they are up for a vote every two years. And that’s the way to address it.”

The meeting lasted over two hours.

Public comments were made in front of a five-person panel made up of business owners and former government officials.

One panelist was Brad Batt, who said transparency is also a problem at higher levels of government.

“I think the issues you’re witnessing at a local level mirror those at the state and higher level, which is that elected officials are quite disconnected and unreachable from the common citizen,” Batt commented.

No city commissioners attended the town hall despite an invitation.

“That’s a statement from them,” organizer Maria Lovelady expressed. “We need to remind them that they work for us and we elect them. It’s time to reclaim control of our own town, our politics, and the individuals we put in positions to lead us.”

Lovelady added that she’s proud of the turnout and work put into the town hall.

“I think it went really well,” she said. “As one of the organizers, we were highly satisfied with the amount of people that came in. We counted over 60 people that came to our first meeting. We think it went great.”

Honeycutt and Lovelady hope to host more town halls in the future to encourage open and honest conversation amongst the Johnson City community.

Honeycutt added what she envisions for Johnson City.

“My vision is that it continues to grow into an even more vibrant and beautiful and entrepreneurial driven area,” she said. “There’s so much magic in this little town.”

News Channel 11 reached out to the City of Johnson City government for comment, but has not received a response.