CLARK, PA. Mayor Bradley ends long service

By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
CLARK, Pa. -- After nearly 27 years in borough government, Mayor Douglas C. Bradley is calling it quits.
He handed his resignation to borough council this week, saying it was effective Oct. 31. He leaves two years and two months in his unexpired term.
Bradley served the last 18 years and 10 months as mayor of this 630-member community and was a councilman before that.
"Definitely, I will miss it," he said. "I have thoroughly enjoyed it."
Bradley, who is retired from Sears where he worked 10 years as a sales representative and 30 years in management, said he is stepping down now because he and his wife plan to spend most of this winter in Virginia where their daughter lives and both have other family members.
It wouldn't be fair to the borough or its citizens to stay on as an absentee mayor, he explained. Borough council will have 30 days from the date of his resignation to appoint someone to fill his unexpired term, he said.
"It was a challenge," Bradley said of his tenure as mayor. "I think we accomplished a lot."
2002 tornado
The mayor said dealing with the aftermath of the Nov. 10, 2002, tornado that devastated a large chunk of the borough was his biggest challenge.
The storm killed one resident, injured several others, destroyed several houses and damaged many others.
"I think we did a remarkable job coming through that," Bradley said, giving credit to borough residents who rebuilt after the storm.
There have been other challenges, he said, referring specifically to the merger of police services with neighboring Jefferson Township in 1997, a move he said has worked out well for the borough.