MANSFIELD — Rollie Harper’s mind — while focused on taking his oath of office Friday afternoon — flickered back to his trailblazing dad.
He is convinced Lawrence “Bunk” Harper, the city’s first Black police officer and later the longest-serving chief of the department, is pleased with his attorney son.
“I know Dad is proud. The best way I can honor my parents, my mom (Mary) and my dad, is to do all I can in this time for the City of Mansfield,” said Harper, who in January will become the city’s first Black law director.
The 64-year-old Harper won a contested Democratic Party primary in May and was uncontested in November’s general election.
He replaces John Spon, who leaves after 12 years in office.
Harper, a Mansfield Senior graduate, earned a bachelor’s degree from Ohio University in 1987 and his law degree from the University of Toledo College of Law in 1990.
After an oath administered by Mansfield Municipal Court Judge-elect Michael Kemerer in the courtroom at the Municipal Building, Harper recalled his dad, who died at the age of 90 in 2016.
“Dad was a cop for 54 years (starting in 1948). That old man (told me and my brother), ‘Boys, if you love what you do, you’ll never a work a day in your life. Find something you love.’
“And we both found areas where we could be of assistance and an example to people,” Harper said.
“That’s his legacy,” said Harper, an attorney in Mansfield for more than three decades.
Harper said he is ready to get started as the city’s primary legal counsel.
“I don’t know that there is a (single) biggest challenge, that I’m aware of, other than I’ve got to get up there and assess what’s going on,” he said.
Before Harper was sworn in, Dan Smith took the oath for what he said would be his final six-year term in office as the Mansfield Municipal Court Clerk of Courts.
The 74-year-old Smith, who has spent almost 40 years in elected office (including 22 as the Richland County treasurer) also took an oath administered by Kemerer.
Smith turned and pointed to his staff members in attendance, all sitting in the jury box.
“There’s the backbone of my office. Without them, I wouldn’t be able to do what I do as clerk. And I appreciate them a lot,” Smith said.