By DEBRA HAIGHT
BCR Correspondent
ST. JOSEPH, MI – Berrien County Commissioners are looking to the future as the 2026 year gets underway. Commissioners are not only searching for a new county administrator, they are embarking on a strategic planning process for a new county master plan.
Berrien County Administrator Brian Dissette announced earlier this month that he is leaving at the end of January to take the deputy county administrator job in Ottawa County. Dissette has been the county administrator here in Berrien County since mid-2020 and was previously the South Haven city manager.
County Commissioner Robert Harrison chairs the board’s personnel and human services committee and reported on the search at last week’s county board meeting. The meeting was delayed a day until last Friday after the previous day’s snowstorm.
“I want to give a brief update on the search process for Brian’s replacement,” he told fellow commissioners. “A number of people have sent me names of people who might be interested in the position either short term or long term.”
“I’ve primarily been focused on the short term at this point,” he added. “I’m still looking for names, if know of anyone they think might be interested and is qualified, please send the names to me. At this point, no one has committed to serving on an interim basis but I have four or five more people to call.”
Harrison said the focus will shift to finding someone to take the position permanently once an interim person is found.
“We will then switch to the formal process of posting the position with the Michigan Association of Counties and the Michigan Municipal League and also on the county website and the like,” he added. “It will take some time to find the right person. If anyone has any names, send them to me. The same name has been submitted to me several times.”
Commissioners also briefly discussed the strategic planning process. The subject was first broached in mid-December by Commissioner Teri Freehling. She noted that a lot of the county’s current plan revolved around the American Rescue Plan Act funding, which is nearly complete.
Last week, both Freehling and Dissette talked about the steps taken so far. Freehling reminded fellow commissioners that Dissette and county staff are working with the Michigan State University Extension Service to offer a strategic planning session on Jan. 29.
That meeting will be held at the county’s conference room at the Berrien County Health Department on Napier Avenue in Benton Harbor. It is scheduled to run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the 29th, she said.
“The staff is putting together past plans to kind of help prime the engines about where we want to go in the next three to five years,” Freehling said.
Staff has also been working on a SWOT survey, expected to be sent to people inside and outside of local government. Those listed as likely recipients of the survey include elected county officials and county department heads as well as leaders of local municipalities to provide insight into local governments’ partnerships with the county.
Freehling acknowledged that the Jan. 29 meeting will be open to the public under the Open Meetings Act but said that the focus will be on the board “think tanking” rather than on gathering public input.
Commissioner Chokwe Pitchford renewed his call for coordination with and input from local governments in the county. He said he’d like to get copies of past county strategic plans as well as current local plans in lead up to the Jan. 29 meeting.
“I continue to believe it’s important to know not only what we want to do but what local municipalities want us to do before we start this process,” he said.
Resolutions approved at last week’s meeting included one accepting a Community Development Block Grant from the Michigan State Housing Authority to fund home repairs and improvements. The grant is for $708,000 and is available to low and moderate income residents outside of the cities of Benton Harbor and Niles who have their own programs.
It is expected that between $20,000 and $35,000 in forgivable loans will be available for the individual home improvement projects such as roofing and energy efficiency repairs. The program will be run by the Berrien County Land Bank Authority and applications should be made to them.