BAXTER-Almost to the day of his starting his role in Baxter, Gordon Heitke, Baxter city administrator, announced he is retiring in April.
Heitke started with the city of Baxter on March 16, 2009. The announcement came from Baxter Mayor Darrel Olson at the end of Tuesday night's city council meeting.
Heitke was a candidate for the Baxter position in 2003 before the city hired him six years later. He was Lino Lakes city administrator from 2004 to 2009.
Heitke's retirement is official as of April 29.
Olson said he understood retiring once someone meets the qualifications to do so, which is what Olson did when he became eligible for retirement from Crow Wing County.
ADVERTISEMENT
"More power to you," Olson said. "You'll enjoy it tremendously."
Heitke didn't elaborate on the announcement at Tuesday's meeting. He was unable to be reached for comment both Tuesday night and Wednesday.
"I've always loved that area, and I have actually thought about how nice it would be to work for that city for a number of years," Heitke said of Baxter in an interview with the Quad Community Press in 2009. "And when the opportunity presented itself, I accepted it."
In a Brainerd Dispatch interview before Heitke took the post seven years ago, he said it was always his preference to work in a city in outstate Minnesota. Heitke was chosen by the city post from a pool of 26 applications. Baxter had been without a city administrator for about eight months at that point following the retirement of Dennis Coryell.
"Baxter, I think, offers exceptional quality of life in terms of the services available there," Heitke said in 2009. "It's strong economic base and, of course, the recreation and natural amenities are so exceptional there that it makes it a truly attractive and inviting community."
"He has a very good background of experiences, both in Cambridge and in Lino Lakes," Olson said in 2009. "He brings lots of experiences of like challenges that we are facing now and will be in the future.
"I think it's going to be a good mix. The council was very impressed and felt he was the man. He surfaced to the top with his desire to be here."
Heike has a master's degree in community planning and was closing in on 40 years of experience in local government.
ADVERTISEMENT
Heitke served as the community development program director for East Central Regional Development Commission where he was responsible for regional land use, housing, transportation and economic development planning programs; and provided technical assistance to counties, cities and townships in a five-county area.
He also served as the community development director and administrator for Cambridge, where he managed planning and development activities during a period of significant residential, commercial and industrial growth. He was appointed city administrator of Cambridge in 1996.
RENEE RICHARDSON, associate editor, may be reached at 218-855-5852 or renee.richardson@brainerddispatch.com . Follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Dispatchbizbuzz .
