Mike Chesney, incoming Maynardville City Manager, aspired as a child to become a person who would help others and make a positive difference in their lives. The very young see heroes in firefighters and policemen, then as they grow up realize there are a lot of other people helping communities run and flourish.
Chesney has fond memories of visiting the farm in Union County (now Plainview) where his father grew up. Growing up in North Knoxville, the son of a Gulf Oil dealer, the realities of essential services served to shape Chesney’s thinking and the education he pursued. Ultimately, he obtained a degree from the University of Tennessee, majoring in both Business and Education.
Chesney’s career pursuits took him from his childhood home in North Knoxville to Chicago, Illinois, for several years of service in Corporate Development and Operations. In 1996, he returned to Tennessee, settling in Maryville, where his daughters have since graduated from high school. Upon retirement, Chesney and his wife of 42 years, Karen, moved to her hometown of Bearden to be near their parents.
Chesney enjoyed a long and satisfying career in the rural telephone industry, retiring in 2003 from Telephone & Data Systems Services after 32 years in the industry.
After retirement, Chesney stayed active consulting other rural and telephone companies, including serving Millington, Tennessee, until they hired him as their city manager. Chesney enjoyed two years of service there, but admits he does not miss the commute to West Tennessee each week.
Seeking opportunities close to home, he accepted a position with First Baptist of Morristown as the Operations Administrator for 3-plus years, finding his experience with infrastructure very relevant to managing a church business.
He advises other professionals to keep learning and growing because the skills you build can be applied to various positions and situations.
Currently, Chesney is embarking on a very satisfying role as City Manager for Maynardville. When asked what exactly a city manager does, Chesney explained that the city mayor and board set policies, and the city manager and other employees carry out those policies.
He is impressed by the quality and dedication of Maynardville’s City Council and their passion and vision for working on the city’s mission and policies. Chesney believes they have a good staff to get goals and projects implemented and feels that success in this role with the city government will be best achieved by growth while giving service.
Chesney believes city manager is first and foremost a customer service role. The citizens are the customers and they must be acknowledged and served as individuals, just as they are in any good business model. He states running a city is much like managing utilities, with similar processes and procedures. One needs to take a look at the geography, growth, size, physicality and what the citizens need and want.
Chesney specified that the expectations of each citizen (customer) will vary by generation regarding the services they are looking for, especially in the current climate of flight from the cities to rural communities.
He feels the role requires a servant’s heart — one who sees each citizen as an individual. Chesney enjoys working with people and businesses. He sees an influx of residents and businesses coming in from other states, attracted by this beautiful place, the mountains, the lake, Knoxville being close by for a night on the town, and the expectation that Knoxville is now pushing north.
Chesney also indicated it is important to consider what goods and services people are going to want and need to create an appropriate business model for 25-50 years from now.
He stated that Maynardville is poised to help businesses develop and prosper as it is a very business-friendly community, with a very good water system that is always improving, good infrastructure, and a servant spirit. He expects to see the city of Maynardville progress in the right way, for city hall to serve each customer, and to get things done on time and on budget.
He gives 100% and expects to get 100% from the staff. His business planning motto is “Always start with the end in mind.
First, you must look to the result that you want to achieve, then figure out how to accomplish that goal, then break it down into a step-by-step plan. Lastly, be intentional about enjoying your personal growth and accomplishing the tasks along the way.”
Finishing the Splash Pad project that began under the previous administration is a good example of satisfying the goal of giving families another way to play together in our community.
Chesney was quoted on the Union News Leader Facebook page as saying he wanted to deliver a message to our community, “The City of Maynardville is ready to serve” and that he wanted to spread the message of “My Maynardville, My Home” across the city.
Please join me in welcoming Mr. Mike Chesney to his new role in our community as we look forward to seeing Maynardville thrive.
The Maynardville City Manager Office is located at 125 Johnson Road in Maynardville. You can contact the office via email at citymanager@maynardvilletn.com or by phone at (865) 992-3821.