Brian Dissette, Berrien County Administrator 

Brian has been the B.C Administrator since 2020. Previously, he served as the City Manager of South Haven for 20 years. He still lives in South Haven with his wife and 3 children. 

Brian said that he started his job for the county during the pandemic and “it was a wild ride!” All meetings were by Zoom, and they never met in person. However, during the pandemic, they recognized the need to update the county’s infrastructure. One area that they focused on was the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in Benton Harbor on Empire Avenue. Since it was built 20 years ago, the number of dispatchers for the 911 call system has increased, and so have the technical needs.

The dispatchers have used an 800-megahertz system to communicate with first responders, but there were dead spots in some areas of the county. A VHF system was used in those areas. A new tower was needed and would cost $8 million. Then, Sen. Kim LaSata worked with the county to secure $5 million for the project, and it was built in Buchanan and is now ready to go on the air. Now the whole county will be on the 800-megahertz system. $3 million has been raised for a new EOC, and some new sites have been proposed. The total cost for a new EOC is estimated to be $10 million.