The true face of Mayor Sessions is becoming more clear with every council meeting.
At the last meeting of 2025, we saw the warning signs. At the very first meeting of 2026, we saw the pattern. For a man who promised to “defeat negativity,” he sure has a talent for bringing it back, dressing it up, and giving it a microphone.
Last Meeting: The TIFA Preview
At the previous council meeting, Sessions quietly set the tone. A local businessman’s term on the TIFA board was ending. Rather than give notice, ask if he wished to be reappointed, or show even basic courtesy, the Mayor simply let the term expire. No call. No email. No “thank you for your service.”
Once that seat was conveniently open, Sessions appointed an out-of-towner to a board whose job is to serve downtown Hillsdale and the businesses in it.
Nothing says “I value local small business” quite like replacing a local businessman with somebody from out of town. If this was a sitcom, the laugh track would have kicked in right there.
This Meeting: The Library Flip-Flop
The first council meeting of the new year gave us the sequel, this time starring the library.
Sessions did not run a vague, muddled campaign on this issue. He was very specific. He told voters, clearly, that adult books do not belong in the children’s section of the library. He also claimed he wanted to keep “negativity” away from the library board and council.
So what happened at the first meeting of the year?
Just like with TIFA, Sessions failed to notify or reappoint a sitting library board member. Once the seat was open, he moved to appoint a well-known Democrat who has been loudly and proudly in favor of putting adult material in the children’s section.
That is not speculation. That is his stated position. And for those who missed it, he happily proclaimed it again during his appointment hearing, just in case anyone thought he might have mellowed with age.
In other words:
- Campaign Sessions: “Adult books don’t belong in the children’s section.”
- Mayor Sessions: “Let me appoint the guy who wants adult books in the children’s section.”
If you are feeling whiplash, you are not alone.
Council Draws a Line
Thankfully, this time council did not just shrug and move on.
Councilmen Bentley and Paladino brought up the obvious concerns. They pointed out the contradiction between what Sessions promised voters and what he was actually trying to do. They treated the citizens’ trust as something that still matters.
Oddly enough, only the Mayor and Councilman Flynn pushed hard for the appointment, insisting that the library needed the candidate’s financial qualifications. Because apparently in all of Hillsdale, we are down to exactly one person who understands numbers, and he just happens to be the same guy who wants adult content in the children’s section. Incredible coincidence.
Unsurprisingly, Councilman Wolfram also joined the Mayor in supporting the Democrat appointee. That brought the tally to three in favor of the Mayor’s pick.
The rest of council was not buying it. The vote came down 3 to 5 against the appointment, and the Mayor’s choice was rejected. For now, at least, common sense and the memory of campaign promises carried the day.
The Return of Negativity
Throughout the discussion, Sessions seemed confused and forgetful about what he had told voters just a few months ago. This is the same man who said he wanted to keep “negativity” out of library politics and council chambers.
Yet look who is bringing the negativity now:
- Negativity toward sitting board members who served the community and were quietly pushed aside
- Negativity toward local business owners passed over without a conversation
- Negativity toward parents who trusted him to protect children’s spaces in the library
This is not “ending negativity.” This is rebranding it. The only thing that has changed is who is on the receiving end.
If you are a local board member who did your job? You are suddenly disposable.
If you are a parent who believed the campaign mailers? You are now the problem for expecting consistency.
A Pattern that should not be ignored.
Put the last meeting and this one together, and a pattern emerges that is hard to ignore:
- First, a local businessman on TIFA is quietly not reappointed, and an out-of-towner gets the seat.
- Then, a sitting library board member is quietly not reappointed, and a loud advocate for adult content in the children’s section is nominated instead.
- Each time, the Mayor’s actions contradict the image he sold to voters on the campaign trail.
The good news is that council found it’s backbone. Bentley and Paladino spoke up. A majority voted down the library appointment. There are still people on that dais who remember who they work for.
The bad news is, the Mayor’s true nature is becoming clearer with each meeting, and it’s not lining up with his campaign branding.
So here we are:
First council meeting of the year, and “negativity” is not gone at all. It is back in the room, seated at the mayor’s desk, acting confused and ignoring everything he ran on.
Hillsdale voters should remember something important: the campaign is over, but the accountability is not. And if this is what the first meeting of the year looks like, 2026 is going to be a very long season, leading into this years campaign season.
in liberty,
The Hillsdale Conservatives.
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