HILLSDALE, Mich. — Adam Stockford is no stranger to local politics. The former Hillsdale City Council member wants to keep his seat as mayor for a second term.
“I am the better candidate,” he said.
The lifelong Hillsdale County resident is feeling confident heading into the election, and he has the backing of both the Hillsdale County Republican Party and the Hillsdale County Democrats.
He says fixing the roads started in his first term and is still one of his highest priorities.
“At the beginning of my term, we only had one percent of our roads in good condition, and now have almost 30 percent of our roads in good condition,” Stockford said. “We’ve got a comprehensive plan in place to have all the streets in the city of Hillsdale fixed in the next five to 10 years, and I’m running to see that through.”
Stockford describes this election cycle as different than in years past, including the remarks on his past.
In 2014, while serving on City Council, Stockford was arrested for failing to appear in court and failure to pay child support.
“Before the court hearing, I paid the money, and then, I mistakenly thought because the money was paid that I didn’t need to show up to court, which turned out to be a very wrong thing,” he said. “So they arrested me for it. It was 100 percent my fault. The charges were dismissed. It wasn’t a crime of dishonesty. It was a crime of me being an idiot, and I learned my lesson for it. Never make assumptions.”
He was subsequently released and charges were dropped.
If re-elected, there’s talk of expanding rural internet service into the city and focusing on the basics of local government. That's something he says is important to do first before moving on to more complicated matters.
“First of all, government can’t fix complicated things. It just can’t,” he said. “Even simple things, government tends to complicate. But, streets, police protection, fire protection, those are the big three things that you always want to focus on first. If you’re not doing those, well, you shouldn’t be doing other things.”
He will be facing off against Rondee Butcher in the general election.
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