New City Manager Appointed: 7/31/2020

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 30, 2020

CONTACT: Linda Ong, Senior Communications Specialist

EMAIL: long@brightonco.gov

PHONE: 303-655-2146 (o) | 303-746-2036 (m)

City Council appoints Jane Bais-DiSessa as Brighton City Manager

Brighton City Council today passed a resolution by a 9-0 vote to appoint Jane Bais-DiSessa as Brighton City Manager. Bais-DiSessa's first day will be Sept. 14. 

"We are excited to have Jane join the City of Brighton team," said Mayor Greg Mills. "We are confident her extensive experience with cities of varying sizes combined with her management skills will benefit Brighton with the on-going COVID-19 pandemic response, City projects and programs, growth of our local economy, and serving the overall needs of our community."

Since 2015, Bais-DiSessa has served as the Deputy Mayor for Pontiac, Michigan. As Deputy Mayor, she led efforts to create a new vision for a revitalized downtown, developed Pontiac’s Neighborhood Empowerment Project to cultivate grassroots neighborhood involvement, and helped with the removal of hundreds of blighted properties. Prior to Pontiac, Bais-DiSessa was City Manager for Berkley, Mich. for 14 years where she was responsible for implementing all City Council policies, supervising all city departments, and preparing Berkley’s $20 million budget. From 1998 to 2001, she served as the Village Administrator for Franklin, Mich. where she was directly responsible for supervising all municipal services and preparing Franklin’s annual $2 million budget and $5.5 million Capital Improvement Bond projects. Before that, Bais-DiSessa worked as the Assistant City Administrator for the City of Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich. (1993-1998), Village Manager of Holly, Mich. (1990-1992), and Assistant to the City Manager of La Porte, Texas (1987-1990). Prior to these roles, she worked for the City of San Antonio, Texas for almost seven years as Budget and Management Analyst (1982-1987), EEO Officer (1981-1982), and Project Management Specialist for the Department of Human Resources (1979-1981).

“I am honored to be selected by the Mayor and City Council to be the new City Manager for Brighton,” said Bais-DiSessa. “I appreciate their confidence in my abilities. My recent visit to Brighton left me impressed with the City’s municipal governance and staff. I look forward with great optimism and enthusiasm to serving the fine people of Brighton.”

Bais-DiSessa received her bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in public institutional administration from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio. She is active in several international, state, and local professional organizations, including the International City/County Managers Association (ICMA) where she served as the midwest region vice president from 2003-2006, the International Hispanic Network (IHN) where she was president from 2008-2011, the Michigan Local Government Management Association (MLGMA), and the Oakland County Managers’ Association. Bais-DiSessa is an ICMA Credentialed Manager. Bais-DiSessa was awarded the 2019 Civic Leader Award from Centro Multicultural La Familia and was a finalist for the 2018 Trailblazer Award given by Women in Local Government.