HILLSDALE — Hillsdale Board of Public Utilities Director of Water and Wastewater Jeffrey Gier is resigning from his position, effective May 22.
Gier penned a letter to Hillsdale City Manager David Mackie and the Hillsdale BPU Board on Thursday, May 8, writing it’s “been a privilege to serve the residents of the city of Hillsdale over the past ten years.”
“However, due to the increasingly negative culture developing within certain boards and council, I believe it is time for me to pursue new opportunities in an environment more aligned with my values and professional goals,” Gier wrote.
Mackie, also director of the BPU, called the resignation “disappointing.”
“It will surely be a setback as we look to backfill the position, as it will likely take some time,” Mackie said Friday.
Mackie added he didn’t fully understand the “negativity” Gier cited in his letter. And yet, Gier is the third senior city staffer to resign in 2025.
Hillsdale’s former airport manager, Ginger Moore, announced her resignation March 13, also citing negativity “that has brought me to a point where I believe it is in my best interest to step away and retire.”
Hillsdale City Engineer Kristin Bauer resigned shortly afterward, also citing negativity.
“The current negative culture being developed by some councilmembers has forced me to make this tough decision,” Bauer said in April. “The creation of distrust towards city staff and the complete disregard for the city charter and ordinances make it difficult to execute my position effectively and ethically.”
In April, Mayor Pro Tem Joshua Paladino addressed the broad use of the word negativity in Moore and Bauer’s resignations and asked anyone who believed he’d mistreated them to address him directly.
In her resignation letter, Bauer thanked Councilmembers Bob Flynn, Rob Sobcha, Will Morrisey, Greg Stuchell and Gary Wolfram for their support and leadership over the years, leaving out Paladino and Councilmembers Jacob Bruns and Matt Bentley, elected in November 2024.
Paladino, effectively serving as acting mayor in the wake of Adam Stockford’s resignation in December, has openly called for the elimination of fluoride from Hillsdale’s drinking water. He believes the federal government will soon “direct all municipal water suppliers to stop fluoridating the water.”
Stuchell has raised alarms about the loss of senior staffers, and has openly called for Paladino to resign.
Paladino did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
— Contact reporter Corey Murray at cmurray@hillsdale.net or follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @cmurrayhdn.
This article originally appeared on Hillsdale Daily News: City of Hillsdale loses a third senior staffer to ‘negativity.’ What we know
Reporting by Corey J. Murray, Hillsdale Daily News / Hillsdale Daily News
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