Father of Hillsdale’s youngest mayor ever and husband of Phi Beta Phi sorority house mom, Scott Sessions aspires to follow in his son’s footsteps as Hillsdale’s future mayor.
Sessions was raised in Eaton Rapids, Mich. and then majored in business and administration at Indiana University. After college, he served in the U.S. Army for two and half years before moving to Hillsdale when his employer, Fasco DC Motors, opened up a plant here.
Sessions has since lived in Hillsdale for 19 years and served as a city council ward III representative since 2011 as well as finance committee chairperson for a year. The position he desires has changed since the 2011 election, but his message hasn’t.
“I campaigned on fixing the streets when I ran for city council and my main priority is still that,” Sessions said.
As mayor, Sessions wants to vamp up the city’s current plan of using $350,000 to fix one road a year to fixing at least two roads annually with $600,000.
He hopes this will boost the economy and draw new residents and businesses to town.
“Fixing the roads is the biggest plan to promote economic development, but you have to work to bring in more businesses by giving tax incentives like tax abatements,” Sessions said. “The economy is a big concern, and we need to make it economical for business to stay here.”
Sessions witnessed what happens when it’s not economical for businesses to remain in Hillsdale when his employer for 26 years moved to Mexico in 2003 and he was left unemployed. After going back to school and becoming a certified medical assistant, Sessions was hired as the purchasing manager for the Hillsdale Community Health Center.
Another cornerstone of Sessions’ campaign includes the city income tax initiative.
“I voted against it, and I still don’t agree with it,” Sessions said. “I think it’s the city’s responsibility to fix the roads without going back to the taxpayers and asking for more money.”
Sessions foresees that the new mayor’s biggest obstacle will be uniting the council.
“The most important thing is getting the council to work together to make Hillsdale better,” he said. “I’m running for mayor because I think I represent the people of Hillsdale and I’m going to listen to them so I can do what they want me to do.”
Sessions also hopes to get the college more involved in the community.
“Maybe we can get some input from the students about fixing the roads and finding waste in the budget,” he said. “Students should come to the city council meetings and let us know what they want because that’s important to us.”
After living in Hillsdale for nineteens years, Sessions hopes to improve the city under his leadership.
“I want to see Hillsdale do better,” he said. “It sure means a lot me.”
