Office of the Mayor

John Harlow

Mayor & President of Council

A Tyrone native who spent a career in broadcasting and public affairs before coming home to serve, John Harlow is Mayor of the Borough of Tyrone and President of Borough Council. Under Tyrone’s Home Rule Charter, the Mayor is recognized as the head of Borough government — presiding over Council, representing Tyrone throughout the community, and helping keep the peace — while the Borough Manager oversees day-to-day operations.

“I’ve always been proud of Tyrone — but I’m never satisfied. I always want to see it be better.”

Where He’s From

Mayor Harlow grew up in Tyrone, attending Oak Ridge and Adams elementary schools and graduating from Tyrone Area High School. He got his start in radio as a teenager under his mentor, the late Tyrone broadcaster Cary Simpson, launching the “Tyrone Teen Review” on WTRN in 1981 at age 14. A career later carried him across the country, but home never changed: “I could have retired anywhere,” he says. “The chance to come home was just too much. Tyrone is home — it always has been.”

Background

Harlow built a career in broadcasting and public affairs. He worked in radio markets around the country and served as a U.S. Army broadcast journalist, and back home he was sports editor and then editor of the Tyrone Daily Herald — years spent covering Borough Council from the reporter’s table that still shape his belief in open, accountable government. He went on to spend roughly two decades as an Army civilian public-affairs officer, work that culminated as Chief of Media Relations at Arlington National Cemetery, where he led the national media campaign marking the 100th anniversary of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. He later returned to Tyrone as Public Affairs Officer at the VA Medical Center before retiring.

Coming Home to Serve

Harlow credits a lifetime of mentors — chief among them Cary Simpson, whose charge he still repeats: “This town is a place we call home. Make it special.” After two decades away, he chose Tyrone over anywhere else he could have settled and entered public life to give back to the community that raised him. He was elected Mayor in the 2025 election and took office on January 5, 2026.

Priorities for Tyrone

As Mayor, Harlow wants Tyrone to be proactive rather than reactive — setting long-range plans for the Borough and its departments instead of waiting for problems to surface — and he is a strong advocate for transparency and open communication with residents. His focus is on momentum: working with residents, businesses, and neighboring communities to help Tyrone grow and keep raising the bar for the place he calls home.