Anja Miller, first woman elected to the Brisbane City Council, Celebrates her 90th Birthday

When Anja Miller and her husband Ray returned from a sabbatical in Finland in August 1973, a group of women politically active in Brisbane told Anja that there had been a successful recall election and that it was time for a woman to serve on the Council. They believed she was an appropriate candidate. Anja had a baccalaureate degree from the University of Helsinki in English, a career in television production, an MA in English as a second language, and a school-age daughter.

Not only did Anja get elected, but she got the most votes. In 3 months, she was elected to a 4-year term and was selected by her fellow Councilmembers as the first female mayor. She was recognized for bringing civility to the Council, negotiating the replacement of the Police Chief, and starting the process that brought a major federal grant to the City that financed the rebuilding of the entire street system. She also did a lot of networking with elected officials in the County and the State that facilitated the establishment of a County/State Park on San Bruno Mountain. She was the only Mayor in San Mateo County to endorse Jerry Brown for Governor. Consequently, when he was elected, she had easy access to the Governor and was able to personally lobby him for the essential State funds for the purchase of the land and the development of the Park.

Anja’s accomplishments went beyond Brisbane. The President of Finland conferred on her the Order of the Lion for her extensive work organizing Finnish American events in the Bay Area. She was chair of the local chapter of the Finlandia Foundation. For twelve years she served as a Trustee of the national Finlandia Foundation. And most importantly for her, she was chair of the Committee of the Finnish Expatriate Parliament that convinced the Finnish Parliament to allow Finns to have dual citizenship. Tens of thousands of Finns around the world benefited from that change in Finnish law.