Woodbury Honors First City Administrator

For a decade, Jim Lacina was known as “the face of Woodbury.”

Woodbury’s first city administrator—who was killed by a drunk driver in a 1987 car crash—set the table for Woodbury’s future and left a lasting impression on the city, current City Administrator Clint Gridley said.

The Woodbury City Council on Wednesday proclaimed June 10-16, 2012, as Jim Lacina Remembrance Week in Woodbury. 

Gridley read from a speech from Shakopee’s administrator during the meeting, relaying to the city—and several of Lacina’s family members—his place in Woodbury’s history and how his fingerprints remain.

Lacina died on his way to a family vacation in Canada on June 11, 1987. Gridley said he spoke to his son, former Vikings lineman Corbin Lacina, who said his father was a family man and left him with a few pieces of advice. Among them: “Always do things right the first time. Don’t do things halfway.”

Lacina, hired in 1977, was an avid outdoorsman and actor in local community theater. He was also a member of the local Rotary and Lions clubs, and the .

Corbin was on hand to accept the award, and said, “There’s a lot of pride here.”

“This truly is an honor for all of us, believe me,” he said.

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