Carol Bradley worked with three Bluffton police chiefs, three Bluffton tax administrators, three village administrators and five Bluffton mayors. On March 21, she'll leave all that behind as she retires from work at the "front desk" of the Village of Bluffton.
Since Feb. 5, 1990, Bradley has handled all utility payments, billings, answered the village telephone and dealt with the public as a village employee in the Bluffton town hall.
Her last day on the job is March 21. Her replacement is Valerie Rogers, who has been her understudy this winter. On March 22 Bradley's workload becomes Rogers'.
"Larry Core hired me," says Bradley. "I replaced Edith Zuercher, who was retiring. She trained me for three months. At that time all the utility billing was entered by hand in journals. Two months after I was on my own the village converted to computers."
How many utility customers does the village have? "One thousand four-hundred and nine," Bradley quickly responds, who probably knows them all personally.
In addition to her utility work, as the official "voice" of the village, Bradley says when she answers the town hall phone she never knows what to expect.
"I get questions like, 'what's the telephone number for (most any Bluffton business)'," she says. She also handles calls from water customers who believe that their water bill is too high, so, "could you send someone out to see if we have a water leak?"
Bradley grew up in Kentucky and moved her in 1986. She and her husband, Gary, have two sons and three grandchildren, who live in Kentucky.
"My granddaughters, who are 12, 10 and 7, are counting the days to when I'll retire," she laughs, as she admits looking forward to seeing them more frequently after March 21.
