BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- It's been several days since Bloomsburg Mayor Eric Bower was arrested for allegedly patronizing a prostitute, and some people who live here do not like all the attention the town is getting.
"It's embarrassing. In this day and age, you can't do much and get away with it," Kelly Fleming said.
State police say Bower showed up at a woman's door Friday night with $200 ready to pay her for sex. The next day Bower told Newswatch 16 that's not what happened.
"She requested my help and invited me to the location where the incident occurred. We always had a very playful, you know, relationship. It wasn't like anything that I would consider what the charges are," Mayor Eric Bower said.
At Monday night's town council meeting, Bower voluntarily removed himself from his position of overseeing the police department. Council members asked Bower to resign.
Some Bloomsburg residents agree.
"Well, he shouldn't be in public office, not doing what he's doing," Kerry Mausteller said.
"To hold a position like that where people voted you in, trusted you, hey, take care of this for us, to have that happen, it's like, come on," Fleming said.
The mayor also told Newswatch 16 he does not plan to resign. People in Bloomsburg have mixed opinions on that.
"I think it's ridiculous. He shouldn't even be mayor," Ruth McHenry said.
"It doesn't make anybody else look good, and he needs to resign. He needs to step down. It's what everybody wants him to do," Mausteller said.
Bower tells Newswatch 16 he believes he is being set up because he is the mayor. He's scheduled to be back in court next week.