Cortland council appoints Jim Bradley mayor; city to post his former council seat

Jim Bradley was appointed mayor of Cortland and sworn in during a council meeting in December 2026, filling the unexpired mayoral term through Dec. 31, 2027.

The presiding official opened nominations for the mayoral vacancy and nominated Jim Bradley; another member seconded the nomination. The council then conducted a roll-call confirmation in which members recorded affirmative responses. Named attendees recorded as voting "Yes" in the roll call on the nomination included Kevin Pires, Scott Rowley, Chris Longley, Ally McGregor, Chelsea Monroe and John McCurry. After the roll call the presiding official declared the nominations closed and congratulated Bradley.

At the swearing-in, Bradley repeated the oath to support the U.S. Constitution, the Constitution and laws of the State of Ohio, and the charter and ordinances of the City of Cortland, and was sworn to serve the term ending Dec. 31, 2027 pursuant to the Cortland Charter. (The audio transcript includes a brief misstatement of the city name as "City Of Portland," which was corrected in this report to "City of Cortland" based on the meeting context.)

Bradley thanked city employees and his family and said he intended to run the mayor's office as a team effort. "This city will not be a workplace where anyone feels like they have to walk on eggshells," Bradley said, and he pledged to return decisions to council committees so council members would be more involved earlier in policy discussions.

Council leadership said the city will post the temporary council position vacated by Bradley while he serves as mayor and will accept applications and resumes; Rhonda was named to handle the posting. The presiding official also publicly thanked Rhonda for her work during a busy period.

The meeting adjourned after a motion to close.