Bill Zeiser, a 4th year PhD student enrolled at Hillsdale’s Van Andel Graduate School of Statesmanship, was elected earlier this month to Hillsdale’s City Council.
Zeiser was elected as a representative of Hillsdale’s Ward III in a close race between candidate Julian Kast and himself. With only 254 ballots cast, Zeiser beat Kast by a mere 15 votes.
Zeiser and his wife moved to Hillsdale three years ago so he could attend graduate school.
Zeiser is originally from the New York City area.
“I always joke with people that it’s been quite the adjustment because I came from a city with 8 million people to a city of 8,000,” Zeiser said.
As both a stakeholder in the college and the town community, Zeiser hopes to strengthen the relationship between the town and the college, and build dialogue between the two respective groups.
“The town is an asset to the college and the college is an asset to the town,” said Zeiser.
Despite being done with classes on campus, Zeiser said he decided to stay in Hillsdale because of all it has to offer.
“There’s the low cost of living and the nicest people you could meet. It’s a wonderful place,” Zeiser said.
Even though Hillsdale is a community teeming with wonderful opportunities, Zeiser does believe “there are many serious problems.”
Zeiser indicated that he stands with several local residents who believe the faulty quality of the roads is a major barrier facing the Hillsdale community.
“It affects every other aspect of life here,” said Zeiser.
Like many students of Hillsdale College, Zeiser describes himself on Twitter as being “center-right” and “pro-liberty.” Zeiser hopes to utilize these positions to create an environment that fosters economic growth and, more specifically, employment opportunities for local residents.
“It’s obvious that there are many vacant businesses downtown. There’s a need for more shops,” Zeiser said.
Zeiser hopes to have informal discussions with local business owners to solve these problems. He wants to learn about the challenges they face in order to launch changes that will bring business back into Hillsdale. Zeiser would like to approach nearby communities and encourage them to bring their businesses to Hillsdale as well.
