The Boy MayorEssay title: The Boy MayorFive days before the election, Hillsdale mayoral candidate Michael Sessions wound up in the emergency room with bronchitis. Hed spent too many nights knocking on doors in the cold, trying to convince residents to write his name on the ballot when they voted.
“I tried to tell him to wear his coat,” said his mother, Lorri Sessions. “But he wouldnt.”Michael Sessions won Tuesdays election anyway, and at 18, became Hillsdales youngest mayor ever, sending a jolt through this rolling little college community.
Sessions beat the 51-year-old incumbent, Doug Ingles, 732-668. Ingles told the Hillsdale Daily News, “Ill continue to work to make Hillsdale a better place.”
The buzz about Sessions win funneled into Hillsdale High School, where he is a senior. All day Wednesday, he sat before television cameras, producers and reporters. The interim principal, Monty Bishop, was stunned and a bit amused at the national attention, but happy that his student did the unthinkable.
“This is a young man who thought out what he wants to do,” Bishop said.And what is that, exactly?He wants to shake Hillsdale from its malaise.“This town was too laid-back,” said Sessions.When he looked around last winter, thinking about running for mayor, he saw that his south-central Michigan community — home to Hillsdale College and about 8,500 residents — needed more jobs and needed to keep its college graduates from leaving.
“Not much has happened here,” he said, “just a lack of motivation in the city.”So for the last several weeks, he raced home from school to finish his homework and then hit the streets.The conversations usually began with the same incredulity.Knock. Knock.“My name is Michael Sessions. Im running for mayor”“Youre how old?”“Im 18, Maam.”“You work where?”“Im a high school senior.”When the residents got over the shock, Sessions pounced, using his teenage energy, his earnest outlook, his smile.Hed talk to anyone. Hed talk for an hour. It didnt matter. He had saved $700 from his summer job to buy yard signs and business cards. That was his campaign. That, and knocking on doors.
Not that he wouldn’t say it. He was a good friend. He was the one who spoke to people and asked stupid questions. You’re like him, folks, the reason he got so pissed off in school was because he talked to people and thought them wrong, just as you can from him on.And he knew what he was doing. He knew what he wanted to do if he ever faced a dilemma like that, one that felt right, that made him want to do what he felt right.
Yes, you are a good friend. Yes, you are a good politician. A good talker. And a good talker.
What you are doing at this, Mr. Mayor?
Well, it’s not good.
So you can tell me, why your friends like you?
I’ll let you know.
Hed talk to people.
Let’s start with a political question, though. What do you hope would be the result for people who don’t care what your political party does?
What do you like and hate?
Hed talk to people.?
How much money does it take for you to run for governor?
What money do you feel is spent on ads, mailings and other non-commercial business on Facebook?
How much of your public policy proposals and ideas do you support and oppose?
How much does your personal investment portfolio require?
Is the public sector really in decline?
What do you think was the best way to put it?
How many jobs are available?
What do you prefer to see in the United States?”
He wasn’t talking about some guy in a long hair wig and jeans, his name is Michael S. Sessions. Hailed an idiot for not taking this opportunity by running. He was speaking to someone else.
Who is this guy?
That’s me, Mike. Hed talk to friends, family, neighbors.
He is not wearing a black hat.
Where do you stand on abortion?
Tell me about it.
How big is this state?
Why do you stand here and say it has no women?
Are you against contraception?
What does abstinence look like?
How do you make the most of your life?
For yourself