Parks Guru Rick Misuraca Races to Retirement

For people nearing retirement, the final weeks and days leading up to that final workday can be filled with dotting i’s, crossing t’s and laying the foundation for a smooth transition to a predecessor.

For Rick Misuraca, whose nearly 30-year career with the city of Mill Valley ends this week, those i’s and t’s are the prominent, tangible and often ubiquitous physical attributes of Mill Valley, many of which will likely live on for decades to come.

“Our community has been enriched by his spirit and work,” Mayor Andy Berman wrote in his recent Patch blog. “I’m still trying to come to grips with his decision.”

From the infrastructure of the city’s parks and an array of to trail monuments and just about anything made of salvaged redwood, Misuraca's fingerprints are the fabric of the city’s public spaces.

That won’t change after his last day of work Thursday, but how Misuraca, 55, spends his days certainly will.

He’s planning a road trip with a buddy to Zion, Bryce Canyon and Canyonlands national parks in southern Utah in March and then a jaunt to Belize in April.

“I’m really looking forward to those trips,” he says.

Over that time and the months afterwards, Misuraca says he’ll have a chance to reflect on a career in a Mill Valley that spans nearly three decades.

Misuraca’s mom went to Tam High and her family ran the Meier’s Bakery in the current Margaret O’Leary space on Miller Ave. downtown, living above the bakery. Misuraca, who lives in Forest Knolls with his wife Sandy, grew up in Strawberry, attended Strawberry Point Elementary and was a member of the last graduating of Edna Maguire Middle School, before it morphed into an elementary school. After attending Tam High and getting a degree in ornamental horticulture at Cal Poly, Misuraca got a job at landscape architecture firm Cagwin & Dorward.

In October 1982, he began working on Cagwin & Dorwood projects for the city of Mill Valley, and the city brought him on as an employee in November 1983.

“I’ve had a lot of fun,” Misuraca says. “I’ve done a lot of fun projects in this town, and we’ve been through some incredible storms and floods.”

“I’ve been so involved and invested with this town and it’s such a big part of my life,” Misuraca says. “I’ll always be involved in something in this town.”

Have any great memories or stories to share about Rick Misuraca? What's your favorite creation of his throughout town? Share your thoughts in the Comments below.

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7. The Mayor’s Week in Review: Feb. 11-17

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