Bartlett Announces Candidacy for Mayor of Oil City

| March 31, 2015

11081254_10203857672782148_9014254946629608209_n
OIL CITY, Pa. – John Bartlett has announced his candidacy for Mayor of the City of Oil City in the upcoming primary election.

Bartlett, who is completing his second four-year term as a city councilman, will seek the Democratic nomination in the May 19 primary election.

“I’ve been honored to serve on council and I desire to continue to work for the city and its residents as mayor,” Bartlett said. “My vision for Oil City is a financially stable city government capable of providing core services at a level that addresses the needs of our community and a city with safe, clean and well-maintained neighborhoods and business districts. How you get there is by working cooperatively, building consensus and engaging the community.”

Bartlett, a native of Erie, moved to Venango County following college to accept the position as news director of what was then WFRA/WVEN radio in Franklin. He and his family have lived in Oil City since 1975.

Bartlett spent more than 37 years as a journalist, retiring from the Erie Times-News in early 2007. Upon retiring from the paper, he went to work in the conservation field and is currently employed by the Foundation for Sustainable Forests, a land trust and sustainable forestry education and advocacy organization.

“When I was in the news business I often covered municipal governments throughout northwestern Pennsylvania, and I think that experience has been beneficial to me as a councilman and I hope as mayor,” Bartlett said. “It is important to be pragmatic, reasoned and reasonable in everything we do.”

Bartlett has served on the Oil City Main Street Steering Committee since its inception and was a member of the group creating the local program. The Main Street Program is a volunteer-driven effort to revitalize the north and south side business districts. Through the Main Street Steering Committee he led the effort for creation of the ad hoc Economic Development Coordination Committee. The committee brought together all the agencies involved in economic development and related matters in or serving Oil City to better improve and coordinate economic development efforts in the city. The committee submitted its findings and recommendations to the members of council and the Oil City Planning Commission for consideration as the commission develops a strategic plan for the city.

Bartlett also serves as one of two council members of the Oil City Library Commission, where he has been intimately involved in planning for the library to become an independent entity weaned from its total dependency on city government in order to secure its future and sustainability.

He served on the United Way of Venango County’s Community Impact Committee that over two-and-a-half years identified three core areas of concern – Income, Education and Health – and set new funding priorities and outcome goals for the United Way. He has been asked to continue with the United Way’s Community Investment Team, which will evaluate applications for funding under the new goals and objectives.

Other community involvement includes being on the Board of Directors of the French Creek Valley Conservancy and a director of the Oil City Chapter, Izaak Walton League of America.

In the past, Bartlett served numerous terms of the board of Youth Alternatives and was an active outdoor programming volunteer with the agency. He served on the board of Children’s Camping Services of Northwestern Pennsylvania, and organization formed to keep alive a camp program for disadvantaged and at-risk children in Venango County. The camp is now provided through Youth Alternatives.

Bartlett coached the Oil City High School Varsity Soccer team from 1992 to 1997 and previously coached a middle school program through the YMCA.

For several years in the 1970s and early 1980s, he served on the Board of Directors of Community Ambulance Service, including terms as president and treasurer.


Copyright © 2024 EYT Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Any copying, redistribution or retransmission of the contents of this service without the express written consent of EYT Media Group, Inc. is expressly prohibited.

Tags:

Category: Local News