Waite Park Mayor Retires After Three Decades in City Government

(KNSI) – Monday was an end of an era in Waite Park.

Mayor Rick Miller presided over his final council meeting, which saw passage of cannabis ordinances and the 2025 budget. It was the last chapter in a 30-year career. Miller was on the city council for a decade, then mayor for six years. He stepped away only to get reeled back in for the last 17 as the city’s top politician.

Miller says his tallest obstacle in that period was also his greatest achievement. “Biggest challenge in my time was to get the Burlington Northern Railroad to donate that land to the city of Waite Park and to get it cleaned up, which now has some businesses on it and has River’s Edge Park. That being said, that’s one of my biggest accomplishments, too, River’s Edge Park.”

He leaves his post with what he believes is a city on the right track. He says the blueprint is good, and the next generation of the council is the right group to implement it. Miller also implores new voices to get involved in the coming years.

“And I’ve always said that it’d be nice to get some younger blood in, some new ideas, fresh ideas. So, I hope we left the community in a better shape than it was, and I think it is. And I think that we’ve got some great plans moving forward, and I think this council will move those plans forward.”

Miller will celebrate his retirement with a nice little vacation for half of the month of January. He’ll be on a cruise with thoughts of a Minnesota winter a thousand miles away.

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