Published: July 03, 2008 12:01 pm            

Dion Miller chosen new city manager

After a nationwide search that included finalists from Florida to Michigan, the Commerce City Council unanimously hired Dion Miller, former city manager in Mineola, Texas, to be only the third Commerce city manager in 22 years.

Miller will begin his tenure as Commerce city manager on July 14.

Mayor Quay Throgmorton was pleased with the decision.

“The City Council had an incredibly strong field of candidates to choose from,” Throgmorton said.

The Council participated in several meetings over the last few weeks, reviewing many candidates before coming to the conclusion that Miller was the right man for the job, according to Throgmorton.

During his decade as Mineola city manager, Miller was involved with many projects for the city, including:

• Mineola 2020, an ongoing strategic plan to design the city’s future;

• Development and opening of a 2,900-acre nature preserve and park;

• Major improvements in the city’s water and sewer systems;

• Completion of the first downtown sidewalk program in Texas using federal transportation funding;

• Completion of a $700,000 historical restoration of a 1906 train depot and museum;

• Initiation of employee cross training to create bench strength, organizational efficiency and flexibility;

• Implementation of a pavement management analysis program and preventive street maintenance and reconstruction.

Miller has also been involved in a variety of economic development initiatives in Mineola, including broad projects such as its Main Street downtown revitalization, as well as specific projects, such as recruiting a new hotel to enhance community tourism. He previously served as assistant city manager in Killeen and as city manager in Azle.

Miller holds a bachelor’s degree from West Texas A&M University and is a credentialed manager from the International City Management Association. He is also active in the Texas City Management Association.

Ron Holifield, CEO of SGR Executive Search, the firm which conducted the recruitment for Commerce, received almost 90 inquiries about the position, and had over 40 candidates who the mayor and City Council worked their way through before agreeing unanimously on Miller. Holifield said that one of the challenges in the beginning was that not enough people knew about Commerce, but the more candidates learned about the city, the more excited they became about the prospect of coming to Commerce as city manager.

Throgmorton said Miller’s combination of knowledge, experience and integrity was precisely the combination that would help Commerce move forward into the future.

Miller said he withdrew as a finalist for a city manager’s position in a suburb of Austin to accept the position in Commerce.

“Commerce is the perfect place to call home, and I am incredibly excited about becoming a part of the community,” Miller said.

        

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