Tyler Goad is seeking a seat on the Owensboro City Commission, saying he wants to bring a more hands-on, collaborative approach to issues ranging from economic development to homelessness to City-County partnerships.
Goad, 50, said he’s running because he believes Owensboro needs a more direct and coordinated approach to several major challenges.
“Last time I ran (in 2024), it was because I just wasn’t seeing progress happen fast enough,” he said. “I see a lot of empty buildings that could otherwise be occupied by people running small businesses. I see what appears to be signs of economic distress, and I want to address that directly.”
Goad said the City needs to play a more active role in attracting and supporting higher-paying jobs to keep more young adults in Owensboro.
“There are a lot of low-paying jobs here. I want to increase the amount of high-paying jobs, especially the ones that require higher levels of education, and keep some of our sons and daughters here,” he said. “When they go off to college, a lot of them just fly away and go away forever. That creates a brain drain and a loss of the family structure people really value here.”
Homelessness is another issue he wants the City to approach differently. Goad said he believes multiple agencies are working to help, but not necessarily working together.
“It doesn’t seem like we have a good, concerted, coordinated effort,” he said. “There are a lot of people attacking it, but not a lot of people doing it in partnership. I find this piecemeal approach ineffective, and I find the problem getting worse.”
While he said the City’s relationship with the County government has improved in recent years, he believes the partnership still lags behind what residents need.
“You don’t just need to occasionally see them at Rooster Booster,” he said. “You actually need to be shaking hands with them, having lunch with them, discussing important topics, and seeing how we can help each other out.”
He said his approach to any divisive issue would be methodical and rooted in fact-finding. Goad said he prides himself on bringing “close to zero ego” to these conversations.
“You’re not going to please everybody all the time,” he said. “But you can do the best you can with the knowledge you have, and you can make better decisions with better knowledge. Being a fact finder, digging around, trying to find who the experts are — that’s a real skill of mine.”
Goad currently teaches in the Navy Junior ROTC program at Daviess County High School, a role he took after retiring from a 21-year career as a Navy officer. His service included work as a surface warfare officer and later as an intelligence officer, ending with a post supporting the two-star admiral commanding the Pacific Fleet’s submarine force.
He said he never initially pictured himself as a teacher but came to appreciate the NJROTC program’s focus on citizenship and life preparation.
“I get to fill in the gaps of students’ experience in high school,” he said. “How do you balance a checkbook? How do you stay out of debt? How do you do a job interview? These are super important life skills that these kids may not get anywhere else. I feel like I’m helping the community get better one student at a time.”
Goad grew up in Madisonville and spent much of his young adulthood visiting Owensboro whenever he was home from the Naval Academy or stationed abroad. He said Owensboro “always felt like home” long before he settled here.
Goad said he has lived overseas for nine years and visited roughly 60 countries, studying political systems, cultures, and religions as part of his military work.
This wide range of experiences, he said, shapes how he views local government — and why he believes the City Commission would benefit from broader perspectives.
“Some people introduce themselves as born here and raised here, and there’s value in that,” he said. “But there’s also value in having somebody that’s outside that loop, with fresh ideas, who’s not accepting of ‘that’s just the way we’ve always done things.’”
He also noted he would bring the perspective of a veteran and of a parent with school-aged children, something he said the current commission lacks.
Goad said he hopes voters see his campaign as an effort rooted in service, not politics.
“I’m passionate. I want to make a change. I want to help Owensboro be better than what it is right now,” he said. “Let’s get somebody interested in actually figuring stuff out, hitting the pavement, understanding the real facts and issues, and being more interested in solving the problems than getting reelected.”
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