Borough Says Goodbye to Longtime Administrator

Longtime Collingswood Borough Administrator Bradford Stokes attended his very last commission meeting Monday evening, and borough officials acknowledged his service.

He'll officially retire as administrator in the coming weeks, but Monday marked Stokes' final commission meeting. Stokes will pursue a position with risk management  Conner Strong & Buckelew.

Borough officials Thursday, July 14. Current Collingswood Tax Collector Keith Hastings will take Stokes' place as administrator.

Mayor James Maley spoke highly of Stokes Monday night.

"Brad has been with the borough (over 32 years), working his way up to his position as administrator," said Maley. "It's been a joy to work with him."

After being hired by the borough in 1978, Stokes made his way up the ladder in Collingswood's Public Works Department as a laborer, a foreman and later—in 1990—as superintendent of public works. 

Also a certified public manager, Stokes was appointed borough administrator 11 years ago, in 2000. 

Since that appointment, he's taken charge of borough positions, such as recycling coordinator for the Collingswood Housing Authority. Stokes is also a Collingswood Fire Company lifetime member.

According to borough officials, Stokes' 32-plus years working for Collingswood "is one of the longest-running tenures of any municipal employee with the borough."

"(Stokes) means as much to this borough as the Collings family did in their day," said Maley. "This (retirement) is the right thing for his family—it makes a lot of sense to him—but it makes no sense to us. We're all going to miss him terribly."

Camden County Freeholder Director Louis Cappelli, Jr. attended Monday's meeting to express well-wishes to Stokes.

"I wanted to stop by and congratulate (Stokes) on a great career," said Cappelli. "He's taken everything he's done seriously, put everyone else first, and I believe he's a sort of unsung hero here. He's been a contributing factor to everything good that's happened in Collingswood."

Stokes graciously thanked borough officials and members of the public at Monday's meeting.

"Thank you so much, everybody. I've had a lot of good times here, and we've all worked great together," said Stokes. "It was a team effort and everybody made it work—by a long shot. It was a good ride."

As he stood at his final commission meeting, Stokes joked that in his 32-year career, he'd missed only one.

"I think I missed one (commission meeting) in the last 27 years or so," said Stokes, chuckling. "And that's because it was on opening day for the Phillies."