Adam Stockford is Hillsdale’s mayor. Courtesy | Facebook

The results of an attempt to recall Mayor Adam Stockford and Councilman Greg Stutchell are coming this October. 

Ted Jansen, a former candidate for city council, filed an attempt to recall both officials in April because they voted to give the city’s waste management contract to the highest bidder. Stockford said the vote was unanimous and recommended by the city’s public services department.

The bid has almost expired, with only one month left to collect the necessary signatures. 

“At this point the only option left is to file the signatures by Oct. 26,” Chief Deputy County Clerk Abe Dane said.

Penny Swan, who previously filed recall attempts against Stockford, said he should be recalled.

“He throws his own city employees under the bus because he doesn’t understand the budget,” she said.

Swan said the recall effort may still succeed. 

“Recalling Stockford has a chance of success,” Swan said. “Just look at the state representative race numbers in the City of Hillsdale.”

Stockford lost Wards 1, 3, and 4 in his recent state representative bid and only won Ward 2 by two votes. 

Stockford told The Collegian he has not been paying attention to the efforts.

“The city has a lot of important business in front of us and I’m focusing on that because that’s my job,” Stockford said.

Even if enough signatures are collected and filed, there would be a long process to come. 

“If successful and enough valid signatures are filed by that date, it would trigger a May 2025 recall election,” Dane said. “The minimum number of valid signatures required for Adam Stockford is 620 between all four wards of the city. The number for Mr. Stuchell is 135 from Ward 1 of the city.”

Another difficulty is the expiration of the validity of signatures. 

“An added complication for the recall sponsor is that once a signature is collected, it only remains ripe for 60 days, after which it would be considered invalid by this office,” Dane said. 

Stutchell, facing his own potential recall, does not know if the attempt is still ongoing and has not heard of any new efforts being made.

“I have not received any negative feedback from anyone,” he said. 

Because of this, Stutchell said will continue to serve, as he has for the past six years. 

Recall attempts in Hillsdale County are not uncommon, according to Dane.

“In the past four years there have been 11 attempts to recall elected officials in Hillsdale County,” Dane said. “Only two of those have been successful to the finish. Those two were the Adams Township Supervisor and Clerk in May of 2023.”

Stutchell said he saw this effort as a way for people to express their views. 

“People have a responsibility to exercise their concerns,” Stuchell said. “The better approach would be to have a discussion beforehand to ensure everyone understands the facts and reasoning behind decisions made in council.”