Bradley town manager resigns after two months

BRADLEY – Almost two months after being hired, the town manager has resigned.

The Town Council accepted on Monday the resignation of Gerald Carstensen, former superintendent of the Brewer Water District, at a special meeting.

Attempts to reach Carstensen for comment on Wednesday were unsuccessful.

Carstensen, 56, of Holden began working for the town Dec. 15. Although town officials didn’t anticipate the manager’s resignation, council Chairman Oscar Emerson said Wednesday that he wasn’t surprised.

“Nobody would really expect it early on, but after four weeks or so, you can determine whether or not it was a good fit,” Emerson said. “He had no previous town manager experience, so it was a bit of an experiment.”

Carstensen was chosen for his extensive public works experience, according to Emerson.

“It was certainly worth the effort on both sides,” the chairman said.

A similar experiment with former Town Manager Michael Crooker, who served for more than six years, had worked for the municipality, Emerson explained.

“A community the size of Bradley is a golden opportunity for some people to get their initial experience,” Emerson said. “The town manager we had previously, Michael Crooker, had no experience and turned out to be probably one of the best town managers we ever had.”

The council doesn’t plan to hire a new manager before the end of the fiscal year, but will rely on acting Administrator Melissa Doane until the town’s budget process is completed.

“Taking under consideration budgeting matters, we’re going to just sort of get through this fiscal year with the administrative assistant and then address the town manager situation after the beginning of the fiscal year,” Emerson said.