Special agent Peterson at your service
BY SUZANNE LOUDAMY Staff writer

MIKE PETERSON

From Star Wars to waste water, Mike Peterson has lived a varied life and lifestyle. With all that experience comes a wealth of knowledge and lots of stories as well.

Serving as the director of the office of community development for the City of Whitehouse, Peterson does not see the action he saw in his former profession. As a master sergeant in the Army, Peterson spent most of his 20 years of service in military intelligence.

He was accustomed to a life of upheaval. His father was career military so while Peterson was born in Jacksonville, he traveled the world growing up. This lifestyle prepared Peterson for what lay ahead of him as he followed in his father's footsteps.

As a counter intelligence special agent, Peterson served in Germany and other hot spots of Europe during some very precarious times. Nothing quite as hazardous going on here in Whitehouse, unless you're not careful on the walk around the wastewater treatment tanks. Now that can be treacherous, not to mention eventful.

After serving on foreign soil, Peterson was stationed in the Washington, D.C., area at the Middle East desk office which involved covert operations in Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq. He was also given a special assign- ment with the Defense Intelligence Agency and Central Intelligence Agency.

In his 18 years of service to the City of Whitehouse, Peterson has had many special assignments. None of them involved covert operations or detecting subversive cell development, but there has been lots of planned development work done.

Peterson remembers one of the highlights of his military service came as he was a part of the Star Wars defense program under President Ronald Regan, and information disseminated in one of his reports was actually quoted by the Presi- dent, word for word, in a policy statement. His work on the new Vision 2020 Master Plan for the City of Whitehouse has been featured and quoted many times in the Tri County Leader.

While life may move at a little slower pace for Peterson these days, the work he does for the city is just as important to the managed growth of Whitehouse as his work in protecting our country.

"Those were good times and sometimes I miss it. It all went so fast," Peterson said. "But I was ready for things to slow down."

Not much has really slowed down though. A whirlwind romance brought he and wife Sonia together in just 10 short days. Life has brought them four grown children: Kristen, Shane, Chelsea and Charlie.

Peterson fills his free time with fast cars, flying high, making music and dancing with his best girl. For a birthday gift, he went to the Texas Motor Speedway and went through the race car driving school. He also enjoys flying small planes.

"I've had a couple of flying lessons and would really like to do more," Peterson said.

Along with his early days as the supervisor of the wastewater plant, Peterson has certifications in many areas of wastewater and water management, as well as in building inspection and the areas of code enforcement and community development. He played a vital role in the creation of the Vision 2020 Master Plan recently completed by a panel of citizens and commission members.

"With the widening of 346, expect to see substantial retail growth in this area," Peterson said. With the designation of the 346 corridor as a "town center - a downtown" in the master plan, work is already under way to get businesses in place. Peterson says he is working with a company that directs businesses to areas of growth, like Whitehouse, and matches up the businesses that are looking for certain demographics and spending patterns.

"With this plan comes the need for more citizen input," Peterson said. "I've already talked to the city manager about town-hall type meetings to get ideas on what we want this downtown to look like." It needs an identity.

In 2005, Keep Whitehouse Beautiful was awarded $70,000 as part of the Governor's Community Achievement Award. Those funds will go to build a new park front to the existing city park on East Main along with the creation of landscaping along the corridor after completion of the 346 construction. All of this will coordinate with the identity of the town center.

"The next 18 months or so will be a mess, but exciting once it's all done," Peterson said.

It's not intrigue, but it's important. He's not 007, but he's got a real heart for the city. It's that kind of heart that makes Mike Peterson a great friend and neighbor.