CEDAR RAPIDS A tumultuous third year of Mayor Brad Hart’s first term marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, civil unrest and the derecho didn’t steer the city’s top elected official from seeking re-election.
Hart announced Tuesday he will run for a second four-year term in November, where he and the nine-member part-time City Council will grapple with helping the community recover from those disasters and advancing diversity, equity and inclusion for all residents.
“We survived quite a year together. Cedar Rapids has, once again, proven its resilience,” Hart said in a news release. “The strength and compassion I saw displayed over the last year has impressed and inspired me. It has been an honor to serve as Mayor and, with the support of the community, I want to continue to serve everyone in Cedar Rapids for another term.”
Cedar Rapids Mayor Officially Announces Re-Election Bid
Saying he now has a proven record of progress and success, and citing pride in the resilience, strength, and compassion he witnessed among Cedar Rapids residents in the challenging year that was 2020, Mayor Brad Hart officially announced on Tuesday that he will seek a second term in 2021.
The announcement seemed to be a formality last month when Hart announced his retirement from law firm Bradley & Riley PC in Cedar Rapids. He first took a seat as Mayor in 2017, winning a runoff against Monica Vernon and following in huge footsteps after leadership from Ron Corbett, who was mayor during the height of many years of immediate recovery from the flood of 2008, a recovery that continues to this day.
CEDAR RAPIDS Part-time mayor. Full-time grandfather.
Those will be Mayor Brad Hart’s occupations in the New Year after he retires this week as a business lawyer from the Cedar Rapids law firm Bradley & Riley, where he’s practiced since 1990.
Hart’s law career spans nearly 40 years, with his first years spent practicing in Houston.
“It’s been rewarding, but it’s a hard job, and so I’ve always been planning to do this for a while now,” said Hart, 65.
Hart said he expects to make a decision and announcement in January about whether he’ll seek a second term as mayor in the 2021 municipal election.
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