Rob Bradley must feel like he's at, or pretty darn close to, the very center of the Clay County political universe.  Over the past couple of years, every single major local political issue has orbited around him.

Rob's been the attorney for both Keystone Heights' and Orange Park's municipal governments, and the nephew of local judge, so he was already a local political astronaut.  What took him toward the center of the universe and started everything spinning around him was his appointment to the most recent Charter Review Commission.

The most controversial proposal that came from the CRC was one that called for the addition of two new members to the five-member County Commission, including a four-year chairman elected by voters instead of rotating the chairmanship yearly among the Commission members.  Voters agreed, so let's skip that controversy for the moment and just accept the fact for now that, in the local political universe orbiting Bradley, it's a good idea.

Shortly after that, though, Gov. Crist chose Rob to fill the District 1 vacancy on the Board of County Commissioners created by the resignation of John Thrasher.  Thrasher had been chosen by Gov. Bush to fill the District 1 vacancy after, well, y'all probably know how he got there.

Once on the BCC. Rob announced that he would run against fellow County Commissioner Harold Rutledge for that four-year chairmanship suggested by the CRC he was a part of.  Harold, I guess after taking a look at how the campaign finance dollars were aligning like constellations in Bradley's account, dropped out of the race and it doesn't look like there will be any opposition for Bradley now.

So in just a couple of years, Rob will likely go from a part-time attorney for two towns to the CRC to the BCC and on to what will become the most powerful elected official in Clay County, and all without having to convince a single citizen (assuming he doesn't get lost on the way to his own precinct on Election Day) that he's worthy of their vote.

That's awfully fast, even at the center of the universe.

Michael S. Mann

michaelsmann@comcast.net [1]