For the first time in more than a decade, Mecklenburg County has a new manager. Michael Bryant officially stepped into the role last week following Dena Diorio's retirement.
He becomes the second African American to serve as county manager, following the late Harry Jones Sr. He now oversees a $2.5 billion budget for more than 1.1 million county residents.
As a longtime county employee who most recently served as deputy budget director, Bryant assumes the role armed with plenty of history and experience. He sat down with WFAE's Nick de la Canal to talk about his priorities coming into the job and discuss some of the biggest issues facing the county right now.
Nick de la Canal: First of all, congratulations. You talked during your swearing-in ceremony about rising above personal challenges and standing in this role as a kind of lifeline for others. What were you thinking about when you said that? What did you mean?
Mike Bryant: Well, I shared a little bit of my personal story, Nick. You know, I'm a firm believer that it takes a very unique person to do this type of work that we refer to as public service. My journey is incredibly unique, and that's because a lot of the services that I'll be responsible for, I received as a child growing up. So it comes full circle for me.
De la Canal: You also paid tribute to Harry Jones Sr., who was the county's first African American manager. What kind of an impact did he have on you, and what parts of his legacy would you like to carry on?
Bryant: You know, Harry Jones had a huge impact — not just on me, but on so many others — and I am thrilled to have this opportunity to continue his legacy. One of the things that resonates with me the most is just his leadership qualities, how transparent he was, and he was never afraid to be brutally honest.
You know, he had this motto regarding choices and consequences: For every choice we made, there was a consequence associated with it — whether good or indifferent. That's just a part of the element of his leadership style that I intend to continue moving forward as county manager today.
De la Canal: So, you've worked with the county for more than two decades, I believe.
Bryant: Twenty-two years. Who's counting? But yes.
De la Canal: And a lot of it, you were dealing with the budget. Now you're going to be overseeing this $2.5 billion budget. When you think about your first year in office, what are your top priorities and what feels most urgent?
Bryant: One of the things that I'm monitoring is the potential impact from the federal and state governments. Mecklenburg County receives over $170 million in federal funding, so I'm very concerned if we were to lose any portion of that funding, what it could mean for our organization.
De la Canal: Do you have any idea of what kind of a hit the county might be looking at as the federal government is looking at cutting a lot of funding? And do you know how you might be preparing for that?
Bryant: Yeah, there's a couple of things. Obviously, the threats to Medicaid and SNAP benefits. Mecklenburg County has the highest overall number of beneficiaries of SNAP and Medicaid (in North Carolina). Our residents account for 414,000 of the state's total Medicaid recipients, and 19% of our Medicaid recipients are at risk of losing vital coverage if Medicaid expansion is terminated.
De la Canal: So, is there any way to prepare for these cuts?
Bryant: Well, what we're doing, Nick, is we're planning a meeting with some of our community partners to ask for their assistance in minimizing this potential impact. And one of the things I will say — since being appointed back in April, I've been on this community listening tour, and one of the questions I've asked each partner is: Would they be willing to collaborate with us to continue to serve this community? And they responded with a resounding yes. So this threat of losing revenue at the federal level is one of many opportunities on how we can collaborate.
De la Canal: You've also talked about doing a deep-dive analysis of county services. So what kinds of services are you most interested in reassessing, and what might change?
Bryant: Well, I can't necessarily say there's one particular service over the other. However, recognizing the state that we're in — when you think about the potential loss of revenue from the federal government — we can no longer be all things to everyone.
We have to roll up our sleeves and take a deep- dive assessment, looking at our budget operations to say: OK, what are the investments that are yielding a lower return on investment, in comparison to other returns on investment? And there may be some things that we're just no longer in a position to continue doing.
De la Canal: Do you have any examples that come to mind?
Bryant: I don't have any specific examples because we haven't started the assessment. Certainly, there are services that we provide that are statutorily required, and then we do have some flexibility.
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De la Canal: I also want to ask you about transit, because it now looks very likely that residents will get to vote in November on raising the county's sales tax by 1 percentage point to fund new roads, buses and rail lines. How do you plan to engage the public on that?
Bryant: Well, my role as county manager is just this: I have to bring forward recommendations to the Board of County Commissioners relative to their decision to place that referendum on the ballot. If it passes — yeah — I will speak to the facts that, you know, there's over $20 billion or so that the county will receive that will be available to fund transit over the next 30 years.
De la Canal: Yeah, and I should mention the town of Matthews is still pushing back on the plan. Do you think the county and its partners can reach a shared vision, or is this plan pretty much set in stone?
Bryant: I'm optimistic. I remain optimistic that as things continue to move forward, if the voters decide indeed that they support this sales tax, I'm very optimistic that the county, the other towns, as well as the city of Charlotte and Matthews, can come together to support this additional revenue.
De la Canal: OK, I want to also ask your thoughts on the Peebles Corporation. And to catch everyone up, it has been nearly a decade since the county partnered with this group to build offices, apartments and shops on the site of Marshall Park and some nearby defunct government buildings. This was supposed to replace Brooklyn, the historic African American neighborhood that was torn down in the 1960s and '70s. Still, nothing has been built. So with all of these missed deadlines and concerns about the company's track record, do you think that it's time to cut bait or push harder to get this project moving with the current developers?
Bryant: Well, I don't want to comment on that. What I will tell you is that the county remains committed to building affordable housing in that area. It's my hope that, you know, that will materialize, but if not, the necessary actions I'm pretty sure will be taken. The end game will be to provide affordable housing and restore the Brooklyn Village reputation and what it represented in our community once before.
De la Canal: OK, finally, what's one way that you hope residents will feel your leadership in the next year — something tangible that they might notice?
Bryant: I hope they say that under the leadership of Mike Bryant, their quality of life overall has been improved in a tangible way.
You know, again, going back to the board priorities — when you talk about workforce development — that they see the opportunities that this organization, all 6,400 employees, have been working to bring to this community. That in partnering with our school system, that the education continues to improve in this community as well, so that all residents will have an equal opportunity to be successful. That's what my hope is.
