July 8, 2025
Newly installed County Manager Mike Bryant won applause for two announcements this morning. One was a staff reorganization to bring together all the small housing initiatives that the county has launched piecemeal over the years, with a single person in charge to encourage accountability and improvement in such services.
The other announcement was the upcoming hire of a top-tier assistant to the manager to focus on energizing all county efforts to spur residents’ upward mobility in Mecklenburg.
Bryant couched some of his reorganization efforts as ways to prepare for a day not far off when the county could lose some of its current $170 million in annual revenue that comes down from the federal government. Bryant said he would not support boosting local taxes to cover all lost revenue – meaning that some county services will likely be re-imagined or eliminated. What ultimately comes of the Trump administration’s announced cuts, backtracking and court interventions is unknowable, but for Bryant and colleagues across the country balancing local government budgets, the revenue losses could wind up in the tens of millions of dollars.
Bryant also recounted the groundwork he has begun to create such collaboration among the elected bodies and staffs of the city, county and school board that their goals will mesh and be mutually supportive. This might just be the holy grail in North Carolina’s splintered local governance – another indication of the new manager’s willingness to take on what former CMS Supt. James Pughsley called “the big rocks.”
Some of the African-Americans in Tuesday’s audience may only recently have ever heard of Mike Bryant. But Bryant knows the community, his nine new bosses, its community and business leaders and most of its challenges. After decades in N.C. government positions and most of that time in Mecklenburg, Bryant said he could have written down before the meeting nearly every question he was actually asked during an extensive Q&A session. That led to some straight talk: Don’t tell me what I already know, he said; bring me well-thought-out solutions.
During the Forum, Bryant encouraged audience members to send him suggestions, proposals and solutions to neighborhood and countywide problems. Asked after the meeting how he would have those resident suggestions reach him, Bryant suggested e-mailing them to Kay Tembo, the county’s new senior strategic communications officer, at [email protected].
Mary Ramsey’s report for the Charlotte Observer. on Bryant’s presentation is here. Amanda Harry’s report was published by QCityMetro July 10.
A one-page overview of the current county budget was handed out to Belmont Center attendees. The overview is shown below the video on this page and is available as a PDF here.
