Kate Lawrence has been on the
Brighton City Council since 1993. She served as
Mayor Pro-Tem from 1995 to 1999, and as Mayor from 1999 to
2005 and as a councilmember from 2005 to the present.
Kate is the current Chairperson on the Michigan Municipal
League Liability and Property Pool. She also serves as
Treasurer on the Michigan Municipal League Foundation
Board. She completed a three year term on the League's
Board of Trustees in 2003 and served as President of the
League from 2002-2003. She has graduated from Level lll
(the Governance Level) of the Elected Officials Academy.
Kate serves on the Brighton Area Fire Authority and serves
on the Greater Brighton Area Chamber of Commerce Board of
Directors. She is an active member of the Livingston
Sunrise Rotary Club.
Kate has lived in the Brighton community her entire
life and has been a city resident since 1982. She has been
married to Larry for 26 years and has 3 grown sons, and
three grandchildren. Kate and her husband own Lawrence
Auto Body in downtown Brighton for 30 years.
You can contact Councilmember Lawrence at (810)
227-5670.
Mayor Pro
Tem, Ricci Bandkau
Mayor Pro Tem Ricci Bandkau
is a lifelong resident of Brighton. She was appointed to
the Council in 2004 and elected to a four-year term in
2005. Before this appointment she served on the Brighton
City Zoning Board of Appeals (1977-2004) where she served
as member and later as Chairperson; Officer’s Compensation
Commission (1977-2004); Election Commission (2000-2004).
She has served as Elder of the First Presbyterian Church
of Brighton; Board Secretary of the Brighton Center for
the Performing Arts; Board Member of the Brighton
Historical Society; Board Member of Brighton’s Art in
Public Places Committee; City Delegate to Regional
Cooperation Group and has obtained her Master Gardner
designation. She is a member of the Livingston Board of
Realtors and has served on the Public Relations Committee.
Ricci currently serves on the Realtors Political
Action Committee (Political Affairs). In 2006, she
received the Brighton Area Women's History Role of Honor.
Ricci graduated from Brighton Area Schools and attended
Cleary University (then Cleary College). She has worked in
the building industry/real estate for 17 years.
She is married to her husband Don and has two
daughters, Heather and Heidi and three grandsons.
You are welcome to contact her by email or (586)
291-6869.
Councilmember, Jim Muzzin
Jim Muzzin has lived in the
City of Brighton since 1987. He was first elected to City
Council in 2003 for a two-year term, then re-elected in
2005. He started his city government involvement in
1995 when he was appointed to the City of Brighton Zoning
Board of Appeals. In 1997 he was appointed to the
City of Brighton Planning Commission. In 2003 he was
elected Chairman of the City of Brighton Planning
Commission and served in that role until his election to
City Council in November 2003. He has also been a
member of the Traffic Safety Advisory Board since 2000 and
was appointed to serve as the liaison to the Brighton Area
Fire Board in January of 2007.
James has been married to
his wife, Catherine, for 21 years and has a daughter,
Elizabeth, 16, and a son Tyler, 11.
Councilmember Muzzin can be reached at (810) 229-4322.
Councilmember, Claudia Roblee
Claudia Roblee was appointed
to the City Council in February 2007 and is also on the
Traffic Safety Advisory Board and the Economic Development
Corporation of Brighton. Claudia has also served on
the Planning Commission and the DDA Board.
Claudia and
her husband Mark Gougherty and their family moved to
downtown Brighton in 1993. They bought a
building on Main Street, opened ArtVentures Gallery and
moved into the apartment upstairs. It was in
that capacity that Claudia co-chaired the Downtown
Business Association from 1994 to 1998.
When their youngest daughter Katie entered elementary
school in 1999, Claudia temporarily gave up the majority
of her business and governmental associations and for the
next five years devoted most of her free time to the
Lindbom PTO and school activities.
In 2006, Claudia entered The New Seminary. She
will be ordained as an Inter-Faith Minister in June of
2008.
Claudia and her husband enjoy their daughters Becky,
age 28, Sarah, age 26 and Katie, age 13. They are
proud grandparents of five grandchildren.
Claudia can be reached at 810-220-3633
Councilmember, John Tunis
John Tunis moved to Brighton
in 2000 and began restoration on Brighton’s most historic
home; The Hyne House located at Main & Third street. The
Hyne House restoration led to a love for the city of
Brighton and an interest in city government. John was
appointed to the City of Brighton Zoning Board of Appeals
in 2003 and was elected to the City Council in 2005. He
was also appointed to the City of Brighton Planning
Commission in 2005. John has served as liaison to the City
of Brighton Planning Commission and the Principal Shopping
District Board.
Previously, John has over 30 years of retail and
marketing experience as owner and operator of
Bricker-Tunis. He also owned and operated Europa Art
Gallery.
John is married to Deb Tunis. John and Deb enjoy
opening the restored Hyne House for charitable functions
and have done so for the B.A.S.E. Foundation and
Brighton’s Senior Center.
Besides his immediate family and varied city duties,
John most enjoys spending time with his granddaughter
Sophia Bella.
Contact Councilmember Tunis at (810) 923-4981.
Councilmember, Chad Cooper
Chad Cooper is a born and raised
resident of the Brighton community. He built a house in
downtown Brighton in 2003 because of the culture and
atmosphere the community offers to his family. He has
served the past two years on the Zoning Board of Appeals
and is a current member of SELCRA. Chad is in his first
elected full 4-year term on the Brighton City Council. He
has served on the Livingston County United Way funding
program as a panelist to recommend and review submissions
for consideration.
He is currently employed by Microsoft Corporation in
Sales. He has an accomplished history and success in the
Information Technology industry. His education stems from
both hands on experience, as well as formal degrees in
Psychology and Religion, Masters in Business, and ITIL
Masters, and ISO-9001 auditor certification.Chad and his wife have one
child, who also works for Microsoft. His hobbies are
diverse; rock and ice climbing, marathons, triathlons,
skiing and snowboarding, tennis, hockey, and yoga. Chad is
a former Marine Corps veteran and is a member of the
Marine Corps League. He fills his spare time with family,
charities, Stephens Ministry, and Harley Owners Group.
You can reach Councilmember Cooper at (810) 225-7564.
Councilmember, Jim Bohn
Jim
Bohn was elected with a four-year term to Brighton City
Council in November 2007 and is Jim’s first public
position, appointed or elected. Although a Livingston
County resident for over 20 years, Jim and his wife
Patricia are relatively new to the City of Brighton,
moving here in the spring of 2005.They currently
reside in the Northridge Hills condominium development
where they hope to enjoy maintenance-free living in order
to take advantage of all the City and surrounding area
have to offer.
Jim
retired from Ford Motor Company in June 2005 after 33
years of service.At the time of Jim’s retirement, he was quality control
manager of Livonia Transmission Plant.After four short
months of retirement, Ford Motor Company came calling
asking Jim to return to work, helping Ford improve quality
system performance of former Visteon Plants that they hope
to sell.
After spending 18 months at the Monroe Plant, Jim is
currently working at the Saline Plastics Plant.
Jim
holds an Associate of Arts degree from Henry Ford
Community College along with a Bachelor of Arts and
Masters Degree in Business Administration from
Baldwin-Wallace College located just outside of Cleveland,
Ohio.In
addition to the college degrees, Jim is certified by the
American Society for Quality as a Quality Auditor, Quality
Engineer and Quality Manager.
Jim
and Patricia have three grown children – Jessica 29, is a
student at Michigan State University working on a Master’s
Degree in Music Composition.Stephen 27 resides
in Nashville, Tennessee and after dabbling in the music
recording business has settled into a human resource
position with a financial services company.Eric 24 is a
sergeant in the U.S. Army currently serving his second
tour of duty in Iraq, stationed in the Baghdad area of
that country.
Jim’s
hobbies include golf, walking, reading, computers and
continuing education.Travel plans include regular trips to southwest Florida where
Jim and Patricia will eventually spend the winter months
when they both decide it is time to retire for good.
Feel
free to contact Jim Bohn at 810-623-2117 or by e-mail at
bohnj@brightoncity.org.
