Meet the mayor

FAMILY TIES — New Richland Mayor Mike Shurson is following in the footsteps of his father, former NR Mayor Merle Shurson. (Star Eagle photo by Jim Lutgens)

By JESSICA LUTGENS
Staff Writer

For most of his adult life, Mike Shurson’s mind was set: he was not interested in becoming mayor of New Richland. But it was always in the back of his mind. So finally, in 2018, he decided to throw his hat into the ring, and got elected.

So far, the stint as mayor has been enjoyable for Shurson, who served 30 years on the New Richland Fire Department, despite the fact that it’s more time-consuming than he originally thought.

“It’s more work than I expected,” he said, “but it fits my style. So far I think it’s working fine.”

Shurson follows in the footsteps of his father, Merle, who served as the town’s mayor from 1964-1971. With Merle Shurson as mayor, New Richland implemented Waseca County’s first volunteer ambulance service and built a new city hall. Shurson remembers listening to his dad practice his dedication speech for the new city hall, and recalls the police chief knocking on their door asking what to do when the historic tornados of 1967 slammed the area.

“I remember a knock on the door, and it was the chief of police,” Shurson said. “He said, ‘There’s a tornado outside of town. What do we do?’”

Fortunately, New Richland was spared the worst of the storm’s devastation – which took 12 lives and cost an estimated $9 million dollars in damage – and Shurson, a Boy Scout at the time, remembers being let out of school the next day to help with the cleanup.

The Shurson family has deep roots in the area. Shurson’s great-great-grandfather moved to the St. Olaf Lake area from Norway in 1869, joining the community that would go on to form the City of New Richland. Shurson has called New Richland his home for nearly his entire life, where he currently lives with his wife, Pam. Their children, Marcus and Kalana, both graduated from NRHEG High School.

It’s obvious Shurson has a strong sense of devotion to his town, and wishes everyone would feel the same way.

“I feel all citizens should help out,” he said. “If all 1,200 citizens [in New Richland] helped, it would make for light lifting.”

It hasn’t been all smooth sailing for Shurson and the city council, whose latest task is finding a new administrator for the care center. Under Shurson’s leadership, meetings have been efficient and orderly. He’s not afraid to step up and take charge. Years of experience as fire department chief have helped prepare him for the job.

Shurson encourages others to get involved in city government, and an upcoming vacancy on the city council provides an opportunity to do so. If interested, stop in at New Richland city hall.