Adam Stockford has been Hillsdale’s mayor. Courtesy | Facebook
Mayor Adam Stockford will resign Jan. 1 after he announced at Monday’s city council meeting that he will no longer reside within city limits next year.
The mayor’s term is set to expire in 2026, but Stockford said he and his wife closed on a house outside of the city last week.
“There’s no hidden message. There’s no conspiracy. There’s no monkey business going on,” Stockford told The Collegian. “It’s a choice I made with my wife, and we’re willingly walking out the door.”
The Hillsdale County native has been the city’s mayor for the past seven years, and his departure will begin a new era of city politics.
Who the next mayor will be is unclear, as Ward 4 Councilman Joshua Paladino told The Collegian he will consider proposing a challenger to the heir apparent, Ward 2 Councilman and Mayor Pro Tem Will Morrissey.
As the new city council term begins, the nine-member body will elect a mayor pro tem at its next meeting, Nov. 18, after new members Jacob Bruns and Bob Flynn are sworn in Nov. 12. When Stockford resigns in January, the mayor pro tem will serve as the acting mayor until a new mayor is elected.
To elect a new mayor, the city council could choose to hold a special election in May, August, or November.
“That’s likely what’s going to happen, but that’s going to be Council’s decision, whether or not they want to call a special election or let the next mayor pro tem ride out my term,” Stockford said.
Ward 2 Councilman Will Morrissey has been the mayor pro tem for six years and said he plans to become acting mayor when Stockford resigns.
“My plan is to carry out the duties of mayor during that time,” Morrissey told The Collegian.
Paladino said Morrissey’s long tenure as mayor pro tem makes him a “natural candidate” for the position, but Paladino also said he does not support Morrissey because he disagrees with his policies. Paladino said he and four allies on the city council may propose another candidate to serve as mayor pro tem.
“This one is different, though, because we are actually acknowledging that we as a council are voting for the next acting mayor,” Paladino said. “Whoever wins that spot is then the incumbent for the election if they choose to run. So, yeah, we might throw someone else’s hat in. We’ll have to talk more about this among the council members and see who wants to do it.”
Stockford first joined the city council in 2013 and graduated from Hillsdale College in 2015 with a major in politics. In 2017, he was elected mayor.
Seven years later, Stockford said serving as mayor has been “one of the great honors of my life.”
“I’m thoroughly confident I’m leaving the city in a much better position than it was when I was first elected,” Stockford said. “We’ve got a $5 million budget surplus, essentially a 60% surplus — completely unheard of not just in Hillsdale, but in the state of Michigan. With Meijer coming in and the endowment deal that was worked out with the college, we’ve had a lot of historic progress. I’m very happy with how my tenure turned out.”
Send tips to the City News Team: collegiancitynews@gmail.com