Ward 3 Councilman Bob Flynn announced his plans to run for mayor at the Feb. 16 city council meeting. 

“I wanted to take a quick minute to announce that I will be running for mayor in this year’s election, and I would encourage others to run, whether it be for mayor or for city council,” Flynn said at the meeting. “We have four council seats, along with the mayor, coming up. We have some very important things to discuss over the next four years.”

Flynn said he had long thought of running for a government position but put it off while he was working at local radio station WCSR, so as to maintain impartiality in his reporting. He retired from the station in March of 2024 and was elected to the city council in November of that same year.

“I got a lot of support from folks in Ward 3 who asked, ‘Why don’t you just run for mayor?’ And since then, I’ve had a lot of people express that desire and got to thinking about it, talked with my wife, talked with my family, and came to the realization that I’d like to give it a try,” Flynn told The Collegian. 

Ward 2 Councilman Matthew Bentley congratulated Flynn on his announcement and encouraged him to keep the constituents informed about his platform. 

“I would challenge you and encourage you, not any time soon, I suppose, but as the election draws nearer, if you have an opponent, you have public forums where you discuss the issues,” Bentley said at the meeting. 

Among the top issues that Flynn will have to address during his campaign is the state of Hillsdale’s roads. His announcement came shortly after the three proposed special assessment districts for 2026 were rejected via citizen petition. 

“We still have to work on streets. I mean, we’ve kicked that can in every direction, and we still haven’t come up with an idea,” Flynn said. “This is something that should have been addressed back in 1980.”

Flynn said his main priorities as mayor would be to make Hillsdale a safe and pleasant place to live and to embrace its opportunities for growth. 

“Basically, just to make Hillsdale a great place to live, work, and raise a family. There are a lot of opportunities that I foresee, especially with our downtown here, in the next five to 10 years,” Flynn said. “I really would like to be a part of that.”