Longtime Dakota County Commissioner Paul Krause calls game over

Paul Krause longs for the good old days.

He's not talking about playing in those four Super Bowls as a Vikings free safety, or stealing the 81 interceptions that cemented his place in the NFL Hall of Fame.

He misses the years he spent serving with fellow Dakota County commissioners Joe Harris and Mike Turner, two of his best friends. Their retirements were part of the reason Krause — an institution in Vikings history and Dakota County government — decided to call it quits after 20 years on the County Board.

"I kind of thought, well, maybe it's time for me … Twenty years here is enough," the 72-year-old said earlier this week after attending his last board meeting. "The county, I think, is in very good shape. I don't think — I know it is."

The Flint, Mich., native landed in Lakeville after leaving football. After years of working in real estate, he decided to enter local government.

"A lot of times, people are taking, taking, taking," he said. He wanted to give.

He's proud of the county's low tax levy, its newly opened Whitetail Woods Park and the state's first bus rapid transit route.

Commissioner Tom Egan said that's exactly what he did. When Egan was first elected, a decade ago, he wondered what it would be like to work with someone who has such a legacy.

"It's not so much what you say, it's what you do," Egan told Krause at the meeting. "It's your manners. It's your conviction. And what comes across — it just exudes from every fiber of your existence — is the integrity and credibility that you bring to this office."

Other county officials said his common-sense approach will be missed.

Former state Rep. Mary Liz Holberg will take over Krause's seat in January.

When Board Chairwoman Liz Workman read a note recognizing his service, she faltered and began to cry as she read his January departure date.