From the Capital-Journal
justin.wingerter@cjonline.com
Vic Miller has
spent nearly four decades in government at three levels — city, county and
state — in Topeka. By the mid-2000s, he was arguably the county’s most dominant
political figure. Through it all, he was known for harboring a quick wit and
sharp tongue.
But on Wednesday, as he was asked about his imminent retirement
and future plans, Miller was quiet.
“I’m not going into that yet. I’m exploring a number of options
and considering a number of options,” said Miller, administrative judge of
Topeka Municipal Court.
Miller, 63, refused to rule out any future professions, including
elected office. He was certain of just one detail: He would no longer hold the
same position he currently holds after Dec. 18.
“I just know that I have a limited amount of time on this Earth
and there are other things I would like to do,” Miller said. “I’ve done this
long enough and had a good time doing it. It’s time to move on.”
He will leave Topeka Municipal Court months after an audit of the
court was conducted by North Carolina-based law firm Thomas and Means. The
city, which paid the firm $10,000, received a draft report in August but it
hasn’t been publicly released.
“I think it will be fairly unremarkable,” Miller predicted.
“We’re an open body over here,” he added. “The audit is done to
look for ways we can improve and I’m sure, as with any entity, there will be
suggestions for how we can improve. But I’m very confident we run a good
operation.”
Tiana McElroy, a former chief of prosecution who was fired by the
city, has accused Miller of running a “debtor’s court” centered on bringing in
revenue, not aiding victims or seeking justice. Miller brushed aside the
allegations Wednesday, noting that McElroy has been fired.
“I’m not going to get into a tit-for-tat, but I do think the key
word is ‘former,’ ” the judge said.
By the time Vic Miller graduated from Washburn University School
of Law in 1979, he was already a member of the Kansas House of Representatives.
A Democrat in a House controlled then, as now, by Republicans, Miller said he
struggled to stand out.
“When you were a minority member of the Legislature, the principal
role was just to be the squeaky wheel as opposed to actually setting out to
achieve something,” Miller recalled.
Joan Wagnon, the former Topeka mayor and head of the Kansas
Democratic Party, shared an office with Miller at the Statehouse.
“I considered him one of the people I would go to to find out how
things worked over there,” Wagnon said. “He was a great mentor.”
Miller suffered his first electoral defeat when running for a
Kansas Senate seat in 1984, losing handily to Republican Jeanne Hoferer. But by
1985, Miller was back in an elected chair, this time as a member of the Topeka
City Council. Now he was one of nine representatives.
“I enjoyed the change in terms of the level of influence you can
have within the group just because of the sheer number,” Miller said.
The number became even smaller when, in 1993, he won a seat on the
three-member Shawnee County Commission. Sitting alongside fellow Democrat Don
Cooper, Miller’s party was in the majority.
“When we were two out of three on the county commission, people
expected us to be responsible for literally everything,” Miller recalled. “There
was a lot more pressure that comes with it.”
During Wagnon’s stint as mayor from 1997 to 2001, the former
Statehouse office mates passionately opposed each other over the issue of
downtown development. Miller declined to discuss anything remotely political
Wednesday, citing his role as an impartial judge, and Wagnon brushed aside
their past disagreements.
“Vic and I obviously differed during my time as mayor over
downtown development but that was more than 20 years ago,” Wagnon said.
Since the fall of 2011, Miller has been a lone decider as a Topeka
Municipal Court judge.
“Over here you don’t debate things. You listen to the debate and
then you rule,” Miller said. “You don’t have your opinion against someone else’s.
It’s very different. That’s kind of why I like it. It wasn’t like what I had
been doing.”
Miller “cleaned up” the municipal court, Wagnon said, and brought
in a collection agency more adept at collecting revenue.
“I was sorry to see he was retiring because he has done a
first-rate job over there,” Wagnon said.
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