New Mecklenburg manager wants to shake up county’s approach to housing
Mecklenburg County will expand its role in addressing the region’s housing problems.
County Manager Mike Bryant announced Tuesday he plans to launch a new “Office of Housing and Community Development” to centralize and expand the county’s work on housing. Bryant, successor to the recently retired Dena Diorio, made the announcement at the Sarah Stevenson Tuesday Forum, one of his first public appearances since taking office.
He said the new office will build on the renewed focus from county commissioners on housing in recent years. Current county initiatives include funding for new housing developments, a program that gives homeowners grants to help pay property taxes, a program that helps seniors with home repairs and partnerships with community organizations to provide legal aid to people at risk for eviction.
But, Bryant said, those efforts are “spread across” multiple county departments.
“We can’t just keep throwing money at it,” he said of the county’s housing problems.
The county’s January count found a record-high number of people living on the street in Mecklenburg. And county and census data show nearly half of renters are “cost-burdened” — meaning they spend more than 30% of their income on housing costs.
With needs on the rise, Bryant said creating a new office focused on housing will allow the county to better address needs, track how programs are performing and collaborate with other local agencies, nonprofits and grassroots organizations.
“It will widen our footprint in this space,” he said.
Bryant also told attendees at Tuesday’s event the county will soon launch a national search for a new assistant county manager “solely dedicated to upward mobility.”
He said other key goals for his tenure include implementing new systems to track how county programs are performing and forging strong relationships with other civic and community leaders, including Charlotte City Manager Marcus Jones and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Superintendent Crystal Hill.
“My ultimate goal is not just to develop a scorecard for the Mecklenburg County organization, but for this community as a whole,” Bryant said.
