Whether you know him from his coaching years at Pampa High School or as the name and face associated with the City of Pampa, Dustin Miller has contributed and served the Pampa community for many years in many ways.
Moving to Pampa at a very young age, Dustin would attend and graduate PHS, earning a basketball scholarship to play at Northwestern Oklahoma State University where he would attend and play for four years while obtaining a Business Administration degree.
Dustin would marry the love of his life, Dori, during his college years and they both would move back to Pampa upon his graduation and begin their life here and start a family.
Unsure of where his new degree would take him, Dustin would work at one of the many offices as the business administrator of Regional Eye Care for Dr. George Walter until George’s closure of his practice ten years later.
During his search for a new job, Dustin would run into the late, great Coach Cavalier who had been Dustin’s coach while he was in high school, and mentioned to him that there was a need for an assistant basketball coach at the school, to which Dustin eagerly inquired and obtained.
“He asked me what I was doing and I told him I was looking for a job and he said they were looking for an assistant basketball coach and asked how interested I would be,” Dustin said. “Of course I was interested, I was just going to have to go back to school to get my teaching certification. At the time, all three of my children were young and I had no job, but I was going to do whatever it took to provide for my family.”
Dustin was able to work as the assistant coach while pursuing his certification and for three years he would make the drive back and forth to WT to take the required classes, work full time at the school, and be a full-time dad.
Dustin would coach basketball at the high school for ten years until a brand new opportunity opened up for him, and he is thankful for all the years he was at the school and feels blessed to have known and worked with Coach Cavalier during that time.
“He was a great man and a great leader of men,” he said. “He taught us boys how to be men, but he mostly taught us how to work hard and how to be good and responsible citizens. He was a huge influence on me and he gave me a lifeline for my family when we needed it the most. I have nothing but respect for him and his family.”
During the summer months, Dustin managed the MK Brown swimming pool for Shane Stokes who was the Community Services Director at that time, and was working there during the transition to the water park where he and Abby Hancock, Coach Cavalier’s daughter, would manage the park during its first year.
Shane would offer Dustin a job as Assistant Community Services Director and after that following basketball season was over, he would resign to take on that position.
“I had been at the eye center for ten years and the school for ten years, so I told my wife that this was going to be longer than ten,” Dustin laughed. “God just opened the door for me to walk through and that’s why I’m still here.”
“It was quite a process and you think you might know how a city operates, but until you get in, you have no idea. It was great to come in as an assistant and just learn.”
Shane Stokes would become City Manager in 2017 and Dustin would then become the Community Services Director, working that position until October of 2023 when he would become Assistant City Manager, a role that he carries to this day.
Dustin would take on many responsibilities in many departments, underestimating just how much of a work load every single department carries each and every day and he considers his job as a continuous learning experience.
“My main goal right now is to take anything I can off of Shane’s plate, to free him up so he can do whatever he needs to do.”
While many of Dustin’s responsibilities include multiple-department oversight and offering help where needed, he is also tasked with community events and all the organizing and coordinating that comes with them.
“I love Pampa and I just want our town to thrive an be successful and if there is anything I can do to make people love living here or want to live here, I’m all in.”
With the love of the town and community at the forefront of his vision, Dustin would brainstorm with many other City members and personnel on what they can do to serve the interests of the citizens and their families.
The ideas for both the Independence Day Celebration and the beloved Celebration of Lights would come about during these brainstorming sessions and every year has brought tremendous success with these events, and being able to see the joy and smiles on the town’s residents in turn brings joy to Dustin and to all those who contributed.
But Dustin seeks absolutely no recognition for the overall success of the beloved events because it takes the hard work of many to make these things happen.
“It’s all bred out of love for the people that live here and I hate any personal gratification for any of that. Granted, it may start with an idea, but it wouldn’t have ever happened without a ton of people involved. Anyone can come up with an idea, but are you brave enough to follow through with it and handle the failures that may come with it? I’d rather stick my neck out and try rather than wish I had tried, and that’s what we all did.”
Dustin’s inspiration and passion for his role at the City of Pampa comes from the fond memories he carries while growing up here and he strives to ensure that the people who live here are able to create memories that they too can look fondly back on.
“We want to provide something to those families where they can come and do things together and make those memories that will last a lifetime, so maybe when those kids grow up, they will be inspired to do something for their city and community because they remember the fun they had.”
