Rick Dorland takes a break from his mayor's duties to pose for a photo on his last day in the elected office. (Tusco TV)

UHRICHSVILLE (Tusco TV) - Rick Dorland is reflecting on his four years as Uhrichsville mayor as he turns the office over to his elected predecessor.

Council President Mark Haney will take over tonight at midnight after unseating the incumbent mayor in the Democratic primary. Dorland says he’s proud of what’s been accomplished during his tenure like re-balancing the budget and making much-needed improvements to the service garage and city building. 

"You know we got the street levy passed. We were able to start paving streets. That was a great accomplishment. New business. We have several new businesses, and there’s a couple more who are from what I understanding coming into town in the next couple of months," he says.

Dorland says he’s looking forward to spending more time with his grandkids, although he’s not quite ready to head into retirement.

"I’m leaving my avenues open. A couple things has caught my eye but I haven’t reached out yet but you know I’ll have to do something. I’ll get kind of bored at home and the wife’s still working and everything so hopefully the right job will come along," Dorland says.

He says the thing he’ll miss the most about his time as Uhrichsville's mayor is all the great people he got to work with.

"This morning, I had like four or five of my firefighters in here, you know, wishing me luck, and the assistant auditor stopped in and a couple of the police officers and everything, so I know I’m going to be missed and I’ll miss them but you know I’m not too far away." 

Meanwhile, the county’s Democratic Central Committee is preparing to interview prospective candidates to take over Haney’s at-large council seat. 

TUSCO TV