Mike Marchioni is an urban studies professor in the college of business and technology at ETSU.
A typical day for Marchioni involves him teaching his afternoon class, putting his jacket and tie on and hustling out to a community event.
His tireless involvement with the Johnson City Planning Commission, his neighborhood association and his church are commonplace for the civic -minded Marchioni.
I teach urban service. I like to practice what I preach, said Marchioni.
Practicing what he preaches, Marchioni is running for Johnson City Commissioner. If you’ve driven around town lately you might have noticed the green and white election signs.
Currently, there are two spots available on the Johnson City Commission with three involved candidates seeking election. Besides Marchioni, incumbent Steve Darden is one of the candidates running for office. Local businesswoman Jane Myron is the third.
All three candidates have participated in a number of public question and answer forums over the past several weeks. These forums are designed to give the voting public of Johnson City an opportunity to make their decision about whom they will vote for.
“Dr. Marchioni proved to me that he was very knowledgeable about the issues facing Johnson City,” Holly Osborne said. Osborne attended the most recent forum for the candidates. “I think it would be great for ETSU to have a faculty member on the city commission to serve as a link between the school and the community.”
Marchioni’s demonstration of knowledge at the forums is not a front.
His experience and education in urban government highlight his resum. Marchioni holds a doctorate in urban economic geography and regional economics and has been teaching urban studies at ETSU for 30 years.
He is a specialist in economic settlement and flooding patterns as well as a certified planner. Marchioni also served on the Johnson City planning commission for a number of years.
“I would say he’s qualified,” said Leigha Williams after a recent forum. “I think Marchioni will bring an aspect that does not currently exist on the city commission.”
Marchioni fears one of the biggest detriments to his campaign is that he is not a person who was born in Johnson City. Marchioni is originally from New Jersey. He has, however lived in Johnson City for over 30 years.
Marchioni’s first step, if elected, will be to run more effective, and efficient city commission meetings.
“Issues facing Johnson City such as downtown and economic development and problems our school systems may be facing need to be approached in an effective and efficient way in order to properly address them, he said. I feel the best policy is for everyone to sit down and talk about the issues and try to figure out what’s best for Johnson City.”
“There are some students who care and are involved in local government, but the majority of ETSU students are apathetic,” Marchioni said. “I would like to see more ETSU students involved in local government.
“What I would like for them to realize is that these local government issues directly affect them now and will continue to impact their lives years from now.
“If there are decisions made that students are unhappy with, if they did nothing to affect those decisions, then they only have themselves to blame,” he said
The election will be held on on April 26.

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