THE HILLSDALE CONSERVATIVES
Truth • Liberty • Local Stewardship
• Hillsdale County, Michigan • March 30, 2026 • 2¢

Something is changing in Hillsdale County.

More people are watching. More people are showing up. And more of our so called “representatives” are being exposed for exactly what they are. That does not mean the fight is over. It means ground is being gained.

April is one of those months where residents should stay engaged. There are multiple meetings, multiple pressure points, and multiple chances to remind local officials that the public is not nearly as blind, tired, or manageable as they would prefer.

The crowd keeps growing. The questions keep coming. The excuses keep getting thinner. That is a good sign.

Residents do not need to make every meeting this month, but they should attend what they can. A full room matters. Public pressure matters. Letting these people know they are being watched matters.

Local Township

Fayette solar hearing could become one of the biggest local fights of the month

Fayette Township has issued formal notice that its Planning Commission will hold a public hearing and special meeting on Thursday, April 16, 2026, at 7:00 p.m. at Jonesville High School, 460 Adrian Street, Jonesville, to consider Heartwood II, LLC’s request for special land use and site plan approval for a solar energy project of up to 140MW on 1,388 acres in Fayette Township. The notice states the project would be located on land within the township’s AG Agricultural District and would require both special land use approval and site plan approval under the township zoning ordinance.

That is not some minor zoning adjustment tucked into the back of a sleepy agenda. A 140MW solar project spread across 1,388 acres is the kind of proposal that can permanently alter the character and long term use of a large section of township land.

Residents should also understand that a public hearing is not just a ceremonial box to check before officials do whatever they already planned to do. The township’s notice says the application and site plan may be reviewed at the township hall by appointment, and written comments may be submitted before the hearing or at the hearing itself.

So for anyone concerned, the path is simple: review the materials, show up, speak clearly, submit written comments if needed, and make sure your concerns are part of the record. Hearings matter most when the public treats them like they matter.

PLANNING COMISSION

APRIL 6TH, 2026 7PM

BOARD MEETING

APRIL 13TH, 2026 7PM

Public Hearing
April 16th, 2026 7pm

Hillsdale City

April 7 city council meeting comes with plenty of baggage

The next Hillsdale City Council meeting is set for Tuesday, April 7, and nobody should expect a quiet little evening of routine municipal housekeeping.

The city is already carrying the weight of two lawsuits, one involving Hope Harbor and another involving Eric Moore. Add in the Collegian scandal, the ongoing concerns about pressure, narrative control, and city government’s general discomfort with public scrutiny, and it becomes harder by the week to pretend this is all normal small town friction.

At this point, nearly every city meeting feels like another chapter in an ongoing unraveling. More drama. More defensiveness. More reminders that too many people in local government are deeply offended by being watched too closely.

So yes, popcorn may be appropriate. But attention is more important.

When a government starts acting irritated that the public noticed what it is doing, that usually means the public should keep noticing.

County Commissioner

The LifeWays bond fight is still alive, and public opposition is still growing

One of the clearest signs of momentum this month is that the fight over the proposed LifeWays building bond is not fading. It is becoming harder to ignore.

Citizens for Hillsdale County announced on March 28 that it is circulating a public sign-on letter to the LifeWays Board of Directors, urging the board to officially withdraw its request for the proposed $15.5 million county-backed bond for a new Hillsdale County mental health facility. The letter argues the bond creates unnecessary taxpayer risk, lacks demonstrated public support, and should be replaced with other financing options rather than being left hanging in limbo.

That matters because the opposition is no longer just scattered frustration. It is visible, increasingly organized, and harder to wave away with the usual talking points.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1GNHtx8hj8

LifeWays itself is scheduled to meet on Wednesday, April 15 at 7:00 p.m. at 1200 N. West Avenue, Jackson, Michigan. Residents who oppose the bond should attend if they can and say plainly what county officials keep pretending not to hear: if LifeWays wants a new facility, it should pursue private funding or other alternatives instead of asking Hillsdale County taxpayers to stand behind yet another public backed obligation.

And then there is the county board itself.

The next Hillsdale County Board of Commissioners meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 14 at 9:00 a.m. What remains unclear is whether commissioners will hold it at City Hall or dare to return to the usual venue, where another capacity problem could once again lead to delay, disruption, or postponement.

That uncertainty says more than officials probably intend.

When residents keep filling rooms faster than government is willing to accommodate them, it tells you where the energy is. It also tells you where the pressure is being felt.

County residents should attend what they can this month, both at the commissioners meeting and at the LifeWays meeting. The people trying to push this bond through need to keep seeing, over and over again, that public resistance is real, growing, and not going away.

State

The Hillsdale GOP fight keeps revealing the same rotten pattern

The internal Republican fight tied to Hillsdale County also remains alive, and once again it revealed more about the people involved than they probably wanted revealed.

In a March 28, 2026 letter to delegates, Benjamin Myers, identified in the letter as chairman of Michigan’s Fifth Congressional District and St. Joseph County GOP, urged delegates to amend the Credentials Committee report so the Hillsdale County GOP delegation would be declared ineligible and removed from the convention floor. He argued that Hillsdale had failed to comply with settlement-related terms adopted by the Mi-GOP State Committee in February. The letter also references a prior lawsuit and states that Mi-GOP still faces a $48,000 judgment tied to the dispute.

The larger pattern here is familiar by now. The same crowd keeps surviving not by restoring trust, cleaning up its conduct, or honestly addressing what it has done, but by dragging everything into procedural warfare, legal threats, and plain old exhaustion.

That is not strength. That is dependence on pressure tactics.

And every time they do it, more people get a clearer view of how dirty the machine really is.

For those who have watched this for years, none of it is shocking. For newer observers, it is one more reminder that the corruption problem in this county is not confined to one office, one board, or one building. It runs through a broader culture of insider protection, arrogance, and rule bending for the right people.

Members of the party threating more lawsuits, violating State Party bylaws and Michigan election law are:
County Commissioner Brent Leininger
County Commissioner Mark Wiley.
County Clerk Abe Dane
County Sheriff Scott Hodshire and JJ Hodshire
Mayor Scott Sessions and his handler Penny Swan
Councilman Greg Stuchell
Councilman Rob Socha
Councilman Gary Wolfram
Honorary member City Manager Dave Mackie.

Grassroots activity matters too

April does not begin only with scandal, lawsuits, hearings, and the usual local circus that has leaked into the state government/party. It also begins with organization.

Hillsdale Conservatives is hosting an America First Speaker Event featuring James Dickson on Thursday, April 2 at 6 p.m. at Old Wilson Hall, 7 S. Manning St., Hillsdale. Admission is listed as a $10 donation, with food, drinks, and desserts available.

That matters because the answer to a corrupt local culture is not just outrage. It is building something stronger beside it. Something harder to intimidate, harder to isolate, and harder to lie to.

April is giving residents plenty of chances to stay involved.

Attend the city council meeting if you can. Attend the county commissioners meeting if you can. Attend the LifeWays meeting if you can. Attend the Fayette Township hearing if you can. You do not have to do everything. Just do something.

Be in the room when possible. Listen carefully. Speak when needed. Take notes. Bring a friend. Keep the pressure on.

That is how ground is gained. First more people see the pattern. Then fewer people are willing to play along with it. Then the people who thought they could operate in the dark start realizing the room is no longer dark.

And judging by the turnout lately, they are already figuring that out.

In liberty,
Lance Lashaway