What if? The mayor says city prepared
Andrea Benda
Issue date: 11/8/07 Section: Focus
A biological attack on the city of Hillsdale would take out the water and sewer systems. It would cause turmoil among residents. It would require adept management of all of the emergency services, and, most likely, it would require support from neighboring cities.
A biological attack is Mayor Michael Sessions' worst nightmare. But he said he is confident the city could tackle a major disaster.
"You can plan for certain things, but for something unusual, you have to react in the appropriate way," Sessions said. "[Reacting appropriately is] in our history."
City Manager Michael Mitchell agreed the city is prepared to handle emergencies.
"You can't actually be prepared for everything," Mitchell said. "A lot of people overplan, but they don't actually do anything…It's better to get people to be problem solvers."
Sessions said the city has a history of handling problems well.
The January Root Cellar Ministries fire in downtown Hillsdale could have taken out the adjacent banks, Sessions said, but because of the organization and effort of the fire department and calling in reinforcements from Jonesville, the fire was contained and extinguished before it could cause unnecessary additional damage.
"I think if you look at our past - like our reaction to make sure no other buildings were affected [in the church fire] - you know it would get done."
As far as mayoral nightmares, Sessions said he hasn't had any in his almost two-year tenure.
But, certain challenges do present themselves.
Sessions referenced a "massive" July 3 Glei's Orchard fire, which occurred in Fayette Township but drew help from the Hillsdale City Fire Department.
The neighboring municipalities often lend each other emergency units when necessary, Mitchell said.
For some emergencies, though, Mitchell said Hillsdale is better prepared than other cities.
Hillsdale has its own electrical power plant that kept the electricity on during the August 2003 brownout left most of the East Coast and Midwest without power for days, he said.
Tackling emergencies is especially difficult for local government because of the time element, Mitchell said.
"You can't just have a city council meeting [to figure out a solution] when a disaster occurs," he said.
Sessions said everyone at City Hall plays a specific role in an emergency. Sessions' main responsibility includes communicating with the media and the public.
"If the mayor says something and a council member says something different, no one knows what's going on," Mitchell said. "[It's important to] have one spokesperson."
Mitchell's job is to coordinate teams to deal with the emergency. He said he looks at disasters in other cities and learns how they handle them.
Hillsdale College Collegian, 2007
A biological attack is Mayor Michael Sessions' worst nightmare. But he said he is confident the city could tackle a major disaster.
"You can plan for certain things, but for something unusual, you have to react in the appropriate way," Sessions said. "[Reacting appropriately is] in our history."
City Manager Michael Mitchell agreed the city is prepared to handle emergencies.
"You can't actually be prepared for everything," Mitchell said. "A lot of people overplan, but they don't actually do anything…It's better to get people to be problem solvers."
Sessions said the city has a history of handling problems well.
The January Root Cellar Ministries fire in downtown Hillsdale could have taken out the adjacent banks, Sessions said, but because of the organization and effort of the fire department and calling in reinforcements from Jonesville, the fire was contained and extinguished before it could cause unnecessary additional damage.
"I think if you look at our past - like our reaction to make sure no other buildings were affected [in the church fire] - you know it would get done."
As far as mayoral nightmares, Sessions said he hasn't had any in his almost two-year tenure.
But, certain challenges do present themselves.
Sessions referenced a "massive" July 3 Glei's Orchard fire, which occurred in Fayette Township but drew help from the Hillsdale City Fire Department.
The neighboring municipalities often lend each other emergency units when necessary, Mitchell said.
For some emergencies, though, Mitchell said Hillsdale is better prepared than other cities.
Hillsdale has its own electrical power plant that kept the electricity on during the August 2003 brownout left most of the East Coast and Midwest without power for days, he said.
Tackling emergencies is especially difficult for local government because of the time element, Mitchell said.
"You can't just have a city council meeting [to figure out a solution] when a disaster occurs," he said.
Sessions said everyone at City Hall plays a specific role in an emergency. Sessions' main responsibility includes communicating with the media and the public.
"If the mayor says something and a council member says something different, no one knows what's going on," Mitchell said. "[It's important to] have one spokesperson."
Mitchell's job is to coordinate teams to deal with the emergency. He said he looks at disasters in other cities and learns how they handle them.
Hillsdale College Collegian, 2007
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