Mpls. Park Board names new chief official

The Minneapolis Park Board has selected a Michigan official to run the city's park system.

Jayne Miller had been executive director of the Huron-Clinton Metropolitan Agency, a five-county, 13-park agency that includes Detroit. She also served as a park official in Ann Arbor.

Miller was added late in the Minneapolis search as a fourth finalist for the Minneapolis parks job. The field at one time included DFL House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher, who has since been named president of the Minnesota High Tech Association.

In Minneapolis, the park board oversees 182 park properties, including nearly 50 recreation centers. The parks get 18 million visits a year, nearly a third of them to the city's landmark chain of lakes. That's about twice as many total visitors as the state's park system reports.

The city park board is scheduled to formally approve a contract with Miller next week.