Ward 4 Councilman and Mayor Pro Tem Joshua Paladino announced his resignation at the Sept. 8 city council meeting.
Paladino, a Hillsdale College alumnus, recently accepted an assistant professor position at Cleveland State University and will be moving away from Hillsdale with his family in the next few weeks. Paladino, who is not running for re-election this year, informed the council that he is stepping down effective immediately.
“Unfortunately, this will likely be my last city council meeting as my class schedule now conflicts with the city council meeting times,” Paladino said. “A very kind professor decided to cover my class tonight so I could come one more time and say goodbye. But it’s been wonderful serving on the city council.”
At the meeting, Paladino said the council has made progress on roads, city administration, and taking a more proactive approach to issues such as code enforcement.
“We’ve made really great progress,” he said. “It’s been a good time. I’ve enjoyed it a lot, especially when we’re arguing, nothing better than a good fight in politics. So I hope the council will keep that up, keep making good progress on the roads, and the changes to city administration in the past couple years.”
He also praised city employees for taking initiative. He said he is confident they will continue serving the city well.
“It’s really good to see employees coming in and wanting to get their jobs done,” Paladino said. “So thank you all. It’s been a pleasure to serve with you.”
Ward 3 Councilman Bob Flynn asked how the council would handle the vacant mayor pro tem role for the remaining meetings before the Nov. 3 election. As mayor pro tem, Paladino was responsible for filling the mayor’s role in the event of his absence.
“Does the Mayor appoint a mayor pro tem for the next two months,” Flynn asked. “Do we go without a mayor pro tem for the next two months?”
Discussion then turned to whether the mayor or council must appoint a replacement at once. Ward 4 Councilman Matthew Bentley said the city can appoint an acting mayor if Mayor Scott Sessions is absent.
He added that the charter provides for election of a mayor pro tem after each regular election and for an acting mayor when needed.
“I’m just suggesting maybe we avoid all that drama until he misses a session,” Bentley said. “We can just leave it vacant for now.”
Bentley expressed his gratitude for Paladiono’s help during the professor’s term on council.
“Thank you for your service,” Bentley said. “Thanks for dragging me into this mess. I think we can all agree to blame you for a lot of the new blood around here. For better or for worse. And I think it’s for the better. Well done.”
