Michael Sessions became mayor at 18 years old. Courtesy | Max Cote 

Michael Sessions became Hillsdale’s mayor at only 18 years old in 2005.

When Michael Sessions was only 18 years old in 2005, he became mayor of Hillsdale by a two-vote margin. On Monday, his father, Scott Sessions, was sworn in for his second term as mayor.

“They say, ‘Like father, like son.’ This is, ‘Like son, like father,’” Scott Sessions said.

Michael Sessions said he had always been interested in public service, and his write-in campaign’s victory of 670 votes over incumbent mayor Doug Ingles’ 668 helped him realize that dream, making national news along the way. Guinness World Records still lists him as the youngest mayor in America when elected. Now, 20 years later, he is the city manager of Manchester, Michigan.

“Hillsdale is a place where not very many people run for office. When I ran for office, the only person that was running was the mayor at the time, and he was running unopposed. I think people seem to enjoy having an alternative person to vote for,” Michael Sessions said. “Since my time as mayor, I think there has always been a contested election in Hillsdale. That’s pretty neat to see.”

Scott Sessions said his first reaction to his son’s decision to pursue the mayoral office was pride.

“I was proud of him, and I supported him,” Scott Sessions said. “I just saw him mature a lot during his term.”

Despite his unconventional age, Michael Sessions said the residents of Hillsdale were supportive of his campaign when he went door-to-door. He hoped to use his time in office to improve the economy.

“When I was elected, there was always a dream for more funding for the fire department. So the fire department really propelled my election, and a lot of it was surrounding hiring an additional full-time firefighter,” Michael Sessions said. “During that time, a lot of the automotive industry was lost. So it was, ‘How do we work on trying to recruit new industry?’”

Michael Sessions said 2005 to 2009, when he was in office, was a difficult time for businesses amid the Great Recession, and he spent a lot of time studying the role of municipal governments in improving the community.

“That was a time when state revenue sharing started to be very stagnant, like it is today. And that’s a time when property values decreased as opposed to increased,” Michael Sessions said. “My time as mayor was really generally just about continuing what we had.”

Michael Sessions said there was little controversy within local politics during his time.

“Everybody seemed to work together with the city manager,” Michael Sessions said. “We changed city managers twice when I was mayor. There were different things that happened with that. But generally, the city council was always willing to try to work with the city manager and the city staff. It was more about, ‘How do we continue to provide services to community?’”

Michael Sessions said he believes social media is a significant factor in the turbulence of politics today.

“Social media was in its infancy back 20 years ago, and that was a huge thing,” Michael Sessions said. “A lot of folks are able to better understand or try to understand the government through social media.”

Sessions encourages anyone interested in government and politics to get involved in it, no matter the age.

“I don’t think age is a barrier,” he said. “I’ve had the luxury of working with lots of folks so far in my career, and I’ve had young city council members that have been on city councils while I’ve been city manager. I always think that’s fun, a new perspective. You know, I encourage anybody — if they feel as if they have a passion to serve — to serve, regardless of what their age is.”

According to Michael Sessions, his job as mayor was fairly part-time, and he was able to balance his life as a college student at the same time.

“The allocations of the mayor are essentially to show up every two weeks and run a city council meeting and then advise, recommend, and consent on appointments. That’s pretty much what the statutory requirements in the city charter are.”

His favorite project completed while mayor was the Broad Street Market.

“That was a market that was pretty rundown when we started, and now, it’s been through a couple of iterations of different owners, but it is pretty neat today, and I think a lot of folks in Hillsdale enjoy that,” Michael Sessions said.

Michael Sessions hired Hillsdale resident Michael Mitchell as city manager, and Mitchell later became a mentor to him.

“It was a great learning experience in terms of how communities are managed and run,” he said. “I learned a lot about planning, zoning, finance, different types of things that have helped me as an individual and as a leader in local government.”

After graduating from Hillsdale College, Michael Sessions chose not to run for re-election because he wanted to see where post-grad life would take him. He has lived and worked in Blissfield, Detroit, Royal Oak, Morenci, and Hudson. He said he hopes his leadership has helped others see the importance of a profession in local government.

“I’ve been a city manager for almost 12 years now,” Michael Sessions said. “A lot of what I learned as a city manager came from my time as mayor, learning from different staff members that worked at the city, and other connections that I gained along the way have benefited my career.”

Professor of Political Economy Gary Wolfram, who had Michael Sessions as a student, said Sessions was very active in the community for a busy Hillsdale College student.

“It was notable that he was able to become a mayor of a city when he was only 18,” Wolfram said. “That certainly is a notable accomplishment.”

Wolfram said the role of mayor has remained largely unchanged since Michael Sessions took office.

“Because we have a city manager form of government, the city manager runs the day-to-day operations of the city, and what the city council does is things like approve the budget that the city manager puts forth,” Wolfram said. “The mayor is basically a member of the city council.”

Michael Sessions says he looks forward to seeing his father’s time in office.

“One of the things he really enjoys is being able to listen to people and and after listening to people, understand exactly how they feel,” he said. “I know Hillsdale does have challenges. And I really feel that with the challenges, one of the big things is he wants to unify everybody there and try to really advance that community.”