Joshua Paladino and his family. Courtesy | Facebook

As Joshua Paladino begins his two years as acting mayor of Hillsdale, he said his “number one” priority is to stop adding fluoride in the city’s water.

“I want my water to contain water,” Paladino told The Collegian in an interview this week.

The vast majority of water systems across the state add fluoride to increase dental health, according to Bridge Michigan, with about nine of 10 Michiganders using fluoridated water. Paladino said the city should stop the decades-old practice because it harms citizens’ health.

“I would like to act on that immediately based on all the evidence that we’re seeing of neural developmental disabilities, arthritis, etcetera,” Paladino said.

Paladino said he also wants to remove “industrial pollutants” and byproducts of chlorination. He said the legal limits for chemicals such as chloroform are too high and the city should invest in removing these byproducts from the water.

“I am a total novice,” Paladino said. “But what I see is a real disconnect between federal and state guidelines for water quality and what the researchers actually suggest.”

The details of Paladino’s plan are still murky. While he said stopping fluoridation may save the city money, removing the other chemicals that chlorination brings into the water could be expensive. The city may need to raise water rates depending on the cost of the changes.

“We might have to make the argument to our citizens that water costs will go up, but it’s going to be for a net good,” Paladino said. 

Ending fluoridation is one of Paladino’s many plans. The new acting mayor said he wants to bring in more money from the college, create new homeless housing funded entirely by private charity, end a city program that charges residents on less-traveled roads for repairs, and lower the general tax rate for all citizens.

“When I go into a meeting with people who have been managing real things, doing real work for 40 years, and I come in as a 28-year-old and say, ‘Let me tell you how to improve things,’ of course, there’s something absurd about that,” Paladino said.

Paladino said he plans to meet with the heads of all city departments to learn more about the inner workings of the city and make better policy decisions. He said he met with City Manager and BPU Director David Mackie to discuss the details of his water plans.

Mackie told The Collegian the city already meets all state and federal water quality standards but also said city services will work to accomplish the council’s goals.

“City staff are committed to supporting the council as they define the direction and initiatives that will best serve our community,” Mackie said in an email statement.

Paladino said he will meet with city staff who manage water and sewage, as well as the city clerk, city treasurer, and city parks officials.

“I don’t want to stay in the realm of theory,” Paladino said.

When the city council accepted Mayor Adam Stockford’s resignation at Monday night’s meeting, Paladino, the mayor pro tem, became acting mayor. Stockford is moving outside the city limits, which disqualifies him from serving as mayor.

Paladino — who spent a decade at Hillsdale College earning bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate degrees — was elected to the city council in 2022. He currently teaches American politics at the college and for its online dual-enrollment program while also working as a political research analyst. While at Hillsdale, he served as the opinions editor for The Collegian in 2018, his senior year. Paladino and his wife, Brigette ’18, married in 2019 and have two children.

Paladino will serve as acting mayor until the town holds an election in 2026, according to City Attorney Tom Thompson. But that also means Paladino will need to gain majority support of an eight-man council for any policy priorities.

The council is split 4-4, Stockford told the Collegian, between the “young guys” — Paladino, Jacob Bruns (Ward 1), Matthew Bentley (Ward 2), and Robert Socha (Ward 4) — and the “old guys” — Greg Stuchell (Ward 1), Will Morrisey (Ward 2), Bob Flynn (Ward 3), and Gary Wolfram (Ward 3).

“It’s pretty clear throughout the county from what I can see,” Stockford said. “The young guys want lower taxes, less interference in their personal lives, smaller government. The older ones are retired and well off, want to force taxes on the residents for ‘the greater good’ projects, cool with federal and state subsidies.”

Increase city funding from college

The city agreed to let the college acquire sections of East Galloway Drive and Summit Street for its hotel expansion in exchange for a $1.7 million in the Hillsdale County Community Foundation and $300,000 for essential city services.

But Paladino said the payment was not enough. The college’s nonprofit status makes it exempt from property taxes. The city is missing out on that revenue, Paladino said, and he thinks the college should pay more to make up for lost funds.

“I hate high taxes,” Paladino said. “But I would love a more diffuse taxation so that it’s not the citizens who own homes and the business owners who are paying all the taxes, but everyone who benefits from the city services.”

Paladino said it’s in the college’s interest to fund city services and that it would lighten the tax burden on college employees who live in the city. If the college would pledge to give $100,000 per year, Paladino said, he would “earmark every dollar of that for tax reductions.”

Fund homeless housing through private charity

Paladino said he plans to collaborate with Penny Myers, executive director of Share the Warmth of Hillsdale County, on housing for the homeless at a permanent location away from the city’s downtown.

But the funding won’t come from city coffers, Paladino said. Instead, he plans to gather nonprofits, especially churches and other religious organizations, to fund the housing entirely through private charity.

“I want to meet with all of the priests and pastors in the county and say, ‘Where are your charitable funds going?’” Paladino said. “If we can get a bunch of people to sign on, we could distribute the cost so widely that no church would have to take on more than a cost in the thousands of dollars.”

Paladino wants to ensure the shelter prioritizes Hillsdale residents who are homeless. The shelter would enforce residency, citizenship, and work requirements as well as drug tests.

End Special Assessment Districts

To raise money for repairs on less-traveled roads, the city designates special assessment districts. Property owners in a SAD must pay up to $5,000 to fund road repairs in the district.

Paladino said the council should put more general tax funds toward road repairs and cut other city spending.

“This is a huge disconnect for the council,” Paladino said. “They put roads and police and fire at the top, and then say there’s no money in the general fund for roads. Well, if it were your top priority, that would be the first thing you find money for, and then you would filter out other things that are secondary concerns. We’ve been doing the opposite.”

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