POULSBO — Poulsbo was a city in turmoil when ‘Mayor Mitch’ took office in 1985.

A lawsuit had been filed against the town’s previous mayor in 1984 and a city-wide vote of no-confidence in early 1985 led to the resignations of the mayor and five of the seven council members.

Over the next decade, Richard “Mitch” Mitchusson steadily rebuilt public trust in a struggling municipality.

“If it hadn’t of been for him I don’t know where Poulsbo would have been today,” said former Poulsbo mayor Donna Jean Bruce. “He was really a great mayor. I’m not sure there was anyone quite like him since and there probably won’t be anyone quite like him in the future.”

Mitchusson died Nov. 19. He was 71.

Mitchusson served as Poulsbo’s mayor until 1999. He was the city’s longest serving mayor and its first full-time paid mayor.

“Mitch Mitchusson was a really great man. He turned this city around when people were walking away from city government. He stepped in, he brought it back, he got it built,” said Adele Heinrich, executive director of the Greater Poulsbo Chamber of Commerce. Heinrich is the former lodge administrator of the Sons of Norway, where Mitchusson could often be found. She said Mitchusson was “a pillar” of the lodge, a natural public relations man for the downtown institution.

“He really did a lot for this town,” she said. “He served this country and then he served this city.”

It was during Mitchusson’s terms in office that discussion about finding a new municipal campus began. On Wednesday night, during Poulsbo’s new city hall opening ceremony, Mitchusson was recognized as one of Little Norway’s honorary grandparents. His wife Barbara, who accepted on his behalf, said he would be pleased with the distinction.

Front Street was renovated, the Business Improvement Area Association (now the Historic Downtown Poulsbo Association) was formed and nearly 515 acres were annexed into the city under Mitchusson’s watch. He oversaw early plans for a satellite Olympic College campus in Poulsbo and is credited for bringing Boxlight to town.

Ed Stern joined the Poulsbo City Council in 1997, toward the end of Mitchusson’s run as mayor. Stern has served alongside four mayors over his 14-year council career. He said unlike many, Mitchusson embraced future growth without uncertainty.

“I would have to give him credit for being the most progessive mayor in Poulsbo’s history,” Stern said. “He was your quintessential small-town mayor. He looked the role, he played the role, he was the role.”

Bruce was appointed to the mayor’s seat in 1999 by Mitchusson after he stepped down. She said Mitchusson remained friends with those who didn’t agree with him politically, and didn’t carry a grudge.

“I always thought he was very visionary about the community and about the city. Not just visionary, but able to follow through on those visions and make things happen,” said Mitchusson’s wife, Barbara, a Poulsbo native. The two met in February of 1997 and were married in June.

“As soon as I started talking to him I could see a spark in him of his love of this town that was my hometown,” she said.

Mitchusson grew up in the small town of Bradley, Oklahoma. He joined the Navy in 1956, when he was 17. He served on the USS Stonewall Jackson, the USS Medregal and the USS Seawolf. It was his Navy career that brought him to Kitsap. Mitchusson retired as a senior chief yeoman in 1975 and went to work for the city of Poulsbo in its public works department. He was head of the department before becoming mayor in 1985. He went on to win three more elections.

He traveled to Leavenworth to study how the city was marketed as a destination spot, and worked with local business owners on how Poulsbo could do the same, ushering in the town’s tourism industry, Barbara Mitchusson recalled.

“He always said you had to have growth to succeed, and that’s so true,” she said.

During his years as mayor Mitchusson served as president of the Puget Sound Regional Council. He was voted Person of the Year by the Chamber of Commerce in 1998.

Mitchusson was battling cancer at the time of his death. He also had a form of dementia known as Pick’s Disease, his family said in a statement after his death. It was that disease that led to several stalking and assault charges filed against him in March 2009, the family said. Mitchusson was released on house arrest in June 2009. Charges against him were pending for several months due to difficulty in obtaining health evaluations. Those charges will be dismissed, according to his attorney, Matthew Clucas.

Mitchusson was well- known around Poulsbo and his work was not forgotten by people in town after the charges were filed, the family statement said.

“He was pretty darned amazing, really,” said Barbara Mitchusson.

Memorial service details were not available at press time.