The Hillsdale City Council may refuse to seat Ward 1 councilwoman-elect Jill Hardway.
The council’s Operations and Governance Subcommittee held a meeting Nov. 10 to consider Hardway’s eligibility for office. The meeting addressed concerns brought by city administrators over Hardway’s company, JB Office Building LLC. The subcommittee reviewed Hardway’s eligibility under the city charter, which prohibits anyone in default to the city from holding elected office. Under Hillsdale’s charter, the city council decides the eligibility of its own members. Unless the council determines Hardway ineligible, she will be sworn in Dec. 1.
The council was not notified of the meeting until Wednesday, according to Ward 1 Councilman Jacob Bruns.
“I was made aware only after receiving an email from the mayor this evening,” Bruns said Wednesday.
The subcommittee, composed of Ward 1 Councilman Greg Stuchell and Ward 2 Councilman William Morissey, resolved to consult a legal expert on the matter. The city issued an Obsolete Property Rehabilitation Act certificate to Hardway’s company for properties at 30 N. Howell Street and 32 N. Howell Street in 2022. OPRA certificates are part of a state program to encourage the redevelopment of public buildings that are functionally unusable.
“The OPRA grant was given for the second-floor rehabilitation because it was a blighted space, so you have to rehab the building within the granted time,” Hardway said. “The hiccup for me, that’s kind of a stab in the back, is that I said I’m happy that they were using local contractors for the Keefer House, but because of that, they could not get in and work on my building because they were under pressure to get things done at the Keefer.”
In October, the city administration reached out to Hardway about her OPRA filings.
“We are now several weeks past the deadline, and as part of our annual review of property tax abatements, we need to verify if the project has been completed, or whether you will be requesting an additional extension,” former Assistant City Manager Sam Fry wrote in an Oct. 21 email to Hardway. “Additionally, you have overdue annual reporting. Please complete the report and send it back, along with your project status, so we can help keep your property tax abatement in compliance. Failure to do so may result in staff asking City Council to revoke the abatement.”
Hardway told Fry her company could not complete the project because the city was prioritizing renovations on the Keefer hotel.
“We will need another extension, as we have a shared contractor with the Keefer project that has delayed our project,” Hardway wrote in a reply email. “While the delays have been frustrating, I am happy that local contractors are involved with this rehabilitation project.”
Hardway said she was never told anything she was doing risked ineligibility from her elected office.
“I didn’t finish it by deadline,” Hardway said. “Did I know that this was going to have anything to do with my city election? No, because I’m not in default. I don’t owe money.”
The Keefer’s renovation has faced delays, requiring seven deadline extensions before structural rehabilitation was completed by the Sept. 30 deadline, though the hotel remains closed.
