by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
Kristie Miller settled into her new desk at City Hall with relative ease. The new aide to City Council member Lynette Self, Miller was a familiar face in former Mayor John Delaney’s Office just two years ago.
Miller, who replaces Heather Patterson, started with Self on January 26.
“It’s a little more hectic than I thought, but it’s going really well,” Miller said of her first month on the job. “I have really been wanting to learn about the legislative side of government for a long time and everyone has been very welcoming and helpful.”
No stranger to downtown, Miller, 30, has been making the drive in from Macclenny for nearly a decade.
First working as a receptionist at the Smith Hulsey law firm and later as an aide in Delaney’s office, Miller was working for Property Appraiser Jim Overton before accepting Self’s offer.
She interviewed for the position one time.
“I had several people in mind, but Kristie is the only person I interviewed,” Self said. “I guess you could say she passed the test the first time and I know we’re going to work very well together, even though we don’t see too much of each other right now.”
So what does Miller, a mother of three boys, tell her kids she does all day?
“Well, my son Dallas just asked me that the other day and, after thinking about it for a minute, I told him that I work for a City Council member and that it’s my job to make sure she has everything she needs at all times,” she said. “I think that’s the best way to put it and I’m happy to be here.”
But what about the potentially hour-long commute everyday?
“It’s not so bad,” Miller said. “I lived there my entire life and just about everyone from Macclenny has a similar drive to make to get to work. Some of my friends work on the Southside or even as far as Lake City, so I actually consider myself lucky.”