Kerri Miller works as the City of Plant City clerk.
By Abby Baker
Staff Intern
City of Plant City Clerk Kerri Miller acts as a bridge between the city and its people.
However, her climb to the top has not come without a story.
Born in Chicago Heights, Illinois, Miller was adopted as a newborn. Her parents, Carol Miner and Harold Hudson, moved to Plant City and got a divorce when Miller was 5 years old.
At 16, Miller was married and pregnant with a son, Chase Christie.
“I’ve always been determined. I may have married young, but I never wanted that stigma,” Miller said. “I didn’t use it as an excuse.”
FINDING HER PLACE
While pregnant with her first child, Miller worked her first job at Belk Lindsey Department Store as a sales associate.
Miller didn’t let motherhood slow her down. While her children were young, she worked different administrative jobs.
After her third child, Austin, was born she got a job as a school bus driver. It was 1992, and Miller started her bus driving career as a divorcee.
She knew the first school she would drive for, Dover Exceptional, would be one that specialized in children with special needs and behavioral issues. What she didn’t know was that the children she drove to school would change her life.
“There were so many of them,” Miller said. “It touched me. I have a special place in my heart for the handicapped.”
When the mother of three was still driving a bus, she met the man she is married to today, Tim Miller.
“I had known him prior to being divorced,” Miller said. “It made it easier for my children. My boys were very protective of me.”
AN EXAMPLE OF STRENGTH
In the 1990s, Miller experienced something that would alter parts her life. She was stalked and sexually assaulted by a stranger.
“He threatened to do harm to my children if I ever told,” Miller said. “I never saw his face. I only remember the sound of his voice.”
The assault was reported to the police, but her attacker was never found. Today, she is telling her story to reach women who have been in the same situation.
“It wasn’t me he did this to. I became someone else during that moment,” Miller said. “Allowing myself to be his victim only gives him power, so I never let what happened be an excuse not to move forward.”
She encourages women who have been the subject of a sexual abuse to give a statement to the police.
“Never be a victim of the circumstance,” Miller said.
She gives her husband, Tim, some credit for her resilience.
But in 2011, it was Miller’s turn to be the rock for Tim.
Five years ago Tim was diagnosed with prostate cancer.
“It was so difficult,” Miller said. “When you think ‘cancer,’ you think ‘death.’ You don’t think of the possibilities.”
In September, Miller spoke in front of the Plant City Commission about prostate cancer. Tim is in remission.
THE CLIMB TO CLERK
When Miller’s children were old enough, she moved on from driving a bus to jobs with traditional hours.
In 2005, she got a job working for the city attorney. Two years later, she became the city clerk.
“I’ve always been very fortunate,” Miller said. “Someone was looking out for me.”
Her title comes with more than just a desk and a chair. Miller has served on the Florida Association of City Clerk’s Board since 2013 and mentored other clerks for a year.
“It was a lot, and my district was responsible for nine counties,” Miller said. “I represented the clerks in all of them.”
She has been certified as a clerk since 2010 and is only a few credits shy in receiving her Master Municipal Clerks.
Though Miller is enjoying life with her two grandchildren, she hasn’t reached the top of her ladder yet.
“I didn’t go to college,” Miller said. “I’ve always wanted to, and I’d still like to do that. It’s my next goal.”
