Q&A: Mecklenburg manager reveals Medicaid cut worries, talks ‘organization reset’
After more than 20 years working for Mecklenburg government, Mike Bryant is officially the man in charge and implementing his plans for the county.
Bryant, just the second Black manager to lead Mecklenburg County, took office in June after the retirement of his longtime colleague Dena Diorio, who retired after 11 years as the county’s chief executive. He followed a similar career path in county government as Diorio. But despite his close relationship with his predecessor, Bryant plans to chart his own trajectory.
He takes office with a focus on improving collaboration with other local leaders as local governments face uncertainty amid federal funding cuts and policy changes.
Bryant talked to The Charlotte Observer about his career path, leadership priorities and his message to other officials. He revealed concerns about how many people could lose Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program coverage. And he spoke about potentially lower commercial property values in 2027.
This conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Mecklenburg County manager Q&A
Question: To start things off, tell me a little bit about how you ended up in this line of work and working for Mecklenburg County.
Answer: I’ve spent nearly 30 years of my professional career in public service. I spent a small amount of time in the private sector, but I just recognized that that wasn’t for me. Instead, my heart was all about public service and improving our residents’ lives.
I first got started in this field back in Granville County through an internship while I was in grad school at North Carolina Central University. I was serving as an assistant to the county manager, and the advantage about working in a rural county is you get to touch everything, parks and rec to public safety and of course finance. And that was very beneficial for me.
After that internship ended, I was fortunate to be selected as the representative for North Carolina Central University in a program that was created by then-Gov. Jim Hunt, the North Carolina Public Fellowship Program. That was a fellowship that identified a grad student with a degree in either public administration or public policy to serve in one of the state departments for a two-year assignment. And my assignment was with the governor’s office. I was assigned specifically to the then-Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and that was primarily because my undergraduate degree was in criminal justice. The major assignment that was tasked to us was to transition the Office of Juvenile Justice to a standalone department. Now, certainly I dare not claim I did that alone. There was a team of us that worked in the Research and Planning Unit, and it was a phenomenal experience.
That two-year fellowship landed me a permanent position with that department. And as much as I enjoyed that, I missed being closer to the residents that we serve. So I decided to look back and say, ‘Okay, what local government opportunities are out there to get me back on track to where I was in grad school?’ The city of Durham had a budget analyst position, and I was fortunate to be extended that opportunity.
I did that for approximately two years, and then my wife and I decided that we wanted to relocate to another city. My grandmother and aunt lived in Pineville, so we would visit this area routinely. I had a colleague who worked with the city of Charlotte, and so I reached out to him and said, ‘Hey, we’re looking to relocate, and do you have anything available that I could apply for?’ He said, ‘I don’t have anything available. However, the county has something. Mecklenburg County has a well respected county manager in Harry Jones, and I would encourage you to apply, because he is certainly someone that would be a good mentor for you and a great role model.’ So I applied for that position, and fortunately, I was selected. This was back in 2002 and my first day on the job was Jan. 3, 2003.
I was hired as a budget analyst, and from 2003 I’ve been able to advance my career from a junior analyst to a senior analyst to the actual director of the Office of Management and Budget, and then a deputy county manager, and now I am serving as county manager.
Q: You mentioned Harry Jones, and you are following in his footsteps as one of the first African-American leaders of the county. What does that mean to you?
A: It means a lot to me. I am honored to continue the legacy of great leaders that have served as manager here in Mecklenburg County, going back to Jerry Fox, certainly Harry Jones and, of course, most recently, Dena Diorio.
As it relates to Harry Jones, he was such an inspiration to me. As an African American male, he made me believe that some day I could also serve as manager in a major city or county.
He often would take me aside. We would go riding in his car, and he would mentor me. He would share career advice and give me personal advice. The thing that I truly appreciated about being able to watch him on a day-to-day basis was seeing how I can be a CEO of an organization and remain true to myself. He was a great example of that.
How will Bryant be different than Diorio?
Q: You worked with Dena for a very long time, and sort of had a similar path through the county structure. What are the biggest things that you learned from her?
A: There are so many things that I’ve learned from Dena. It’s a long list.
I think the one that comes to mind immediately is just being very open, honest and transparent. When you interacted with Dena, you knew exactly where she stood on business matters. And whether you agreed or not, there were no questions. I really appreciated that about her.
Q: What makes you different from Dena?
A: I think there’s a lot of attributes in how I lead from Harry and Dena.
In terms of how I intend to be different, I think I’m going to be a little more reflective before I decide which route I want to take with a decision. I think I will be a little more inclusive and collaborative with my decision making, certainly making sure I hear all perspectives to help inform my decision making.
I think I will also rely on performance results a lot more.
County Manager Mike Bryant’s goals
Q: I had the opportunity to hear your speech at the Sarah Stevenson Tuesday Forum recently, and you talked a lot about the county’s approach to housing. You talked about relying on performance metrics. What’s the plan for you on those issues? What’s sort of the big idea, and how does that break down into projects?
A: I’ve talked about this community collaboration meeting. That meeting is scheduled for November, and invitations have already been sent to community leaders across different sectors in Mecklenburg County. I’m really excited about that opportunity for a couple of reasons. As much as we have accomplished as an organization, there’s still a lot of work to do. As revenue growth begins to slow down, as we account for the decisions made at the federal government level, the uncertainty at the state level, it’s very important that we come together as a community so that we can continue to serve. And I think we can strike a balance in terms of staying in our lanes but also partnering together.
I rolled out an initiative that I referred to as ‘organizational reset.’ Inclusive of that plan is a higher commitment to performance management. When I joined the organization back in 2003, we had a management framework in place that was called ‘managing for results,’ and it was supported by a ‘balance scorecard.’ It was very clear as relates to what the organizational goals are and how we’re trending in each one of those spaces. In light of where we find ourselves financially today and possibly what’s going to come down the pipeline, we have to get back to that. So that’s why I am implementing a balance scorecard 2.0 so that we can have a common understanding of what are the desired goals for this organization, and when we make investments, what the expected return is as well.
My stretch goal, and this is ambitious, is to have a community-wide scorecard, and that is one of the deliverables that I hope comes out of that November meeting, that all of the stakeholders will agree to a common scorecard. We can report to the community how we’re progressing in certain areas, such as education, affordable housing and workforce development.
Another part of that organizational reset is a deep dive assessment on our operating budget. Although every year we do a good job at looking for savings and efficiencies, we have not completed a deep dive assessment for a very long time, and it’s long overdue. I’m excited to lead this initiative to do just that.
Since I’ve been at this organization, our budget was right at a billion dollars. Now we’re at $2.5 billion. So there’s been a lot of new services added, a lot of initiatives that we funded, great things. Although we’re not in a crisis, you don’t want to waste an opportunity to reset, and that’s where we find ourselves. Part of that will be through this deep dive assessment to see what is yielding a higher return on investment. And if there’s anything that is not yielding good results, we either need to rethink or just discontinue doing that.
Former deputy manager out
Q: Speaking of the organization, I did want to acknowledge there was a report late last week from WFAE saying that longtime Deputy County Manager Anthony Troutman will be leaving the county. Do you have any comment on that?
A: Anthony Trotman has served this community very well during his tenure, and he’s made some significant contributions to the organization as a whole. He’s transitioning out of the organization. I wish him the very best.
And in addition to that, I have two deputy county managers that will be joining my team. And I’m really excited about them: Michelle Attreed, who’s from Prince William County, Virginia, and then also Dr. Kimm Campbell, from Broward County, Florida. I’m really excited about them joining Dr. Leslie Johnson and Derrick Ramos to round out this executive team. Together, we’re going to do some amazing things for this community. We’re excited about the opportunities ahead, and we’re going to take it on together as one executive team.
Q: You mentioned your desire to really increase collaboration. When you’re talking to Charlotte City Manager Marcus Jones, Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles, leadership in any of the towns, what’s your approach to those conversations? And how do you go about trying to build those relationships?
A: I hit the ground running by participating in a number of meetings. I now have held 67 individual and community meetings.
A lot of these individuals I know and have some history with. But I also recognize that now serving as county manager, it’s a different conversation. Each conversation begins with asking them to describe their existing partnership with Mecklenburg County. And I’m pleased to say that all of them have reported that those relationships have been favorable. I am committed to maintaining those healthy relationships and building on the success.
Then as the conversation continues, I paint the picture that we may possibly be experiencing in Mecklenburg County a slowdown in revenue, federal impacts and things like that. I ask them, would they be willing to partner and collaborate with Mecklenburg County to continue to serve this community? And all of them respond with a resounding yes, that they are absolutely all in and look forward to partnering.
There are opportunities for us to better coordinate our resources and enhance efficiencies, to better serve the public. And that’s why there’s a mutual excitement about the possibilities that can come out of this collaborative effort.
Q: The county has its fingers in a lot of different pies, everything from public health to public safety. As county manager, having to oversee all those various departments, what’s your approach to making sure you’re staying on top of everything?
A: I firmly believe I have the best workforce in the nation. I have 6,400 employees with a common understanding that we are in our roles for one reason, and that is to serve the residents of Mecklenburg County.
In addition, I have a very strong, talented cabinet and executive team. So I lean on them. I can’t do this good work alone. I must be surrounded by individuals that have a shared understanding of where I want to take this organization, and they’re supportive and all in with that. And that’s what I have today.
Mecklenburg County has been very intentional in stepping into areas that traditionally, county governments do not show up. A great example is affordable housing. And with that intent, we’ve got to make sure that we are aligned as an organization and with the Board of County Commissioners, and we are.
Medicaid, SNAP benefits
Q: A lot of the news right now around local government has been dominated by the impacts of federal policy changes and funding cuts. How do you navigate that, whether it’s stuff that’s already happened, or uncertainty about things that might be coming down the pike?
A: Here in North Carolina, Mecklenburg County has the most SNAP and Medicaid recipients. We are still getting our arms around the actual impacts. But here’s what I can share with you: Our residents account for up to 414,000 of the state’s total Medicaid recipients, more than 143,000 of the state’s total SNAP recipients. 78,600 residents, or a little over 6% of our population receiving Medicaid, are at risk of losing vital coverage if Medicaid expansion is terminated. If it’s preserved but the proposed new work requirements are put in place, the number of county residents losing coverage would be up to 33,000, and 19,000 Mecklenburg County residents currently receiving SNAP benefits are at risk of losing vital coverage due to expanded work requirements and the associated documentation burden.
That documentation burden would impact the organization as we meet those new requirements. The overall impact on residents will be devastating and could result in possible reductions in staff.
However, one important factor in this is how the state decides they’re going to respond to the federal laws that have been put in place. If they decide to push it down to counties, then, yes, we’re going to have to step back and reassess.
We will be providing our board a more robust update at our August 6 meeting in terms of what this potential impact may be. And that gets back again to why it’s so important that I lead with this organizational reset. Because you never want to waste a crisis, and we want to take advantage. By leading with this plan, recommitting to performance and completing a deep dive budget assessment, we’re going to come out even more resilient than ever.
We’ve been here before: the Great Recession, COVID. And now you have the hand that we’re dealt today. And each time, Mecklenburg County shows up. We respond, and we respond extremely well.
Q: Zooming out a little bit as we wrap things up: What do you think are the biggest challenges facing the county? And then conversely, what do you think are the best things the county’s got going for it?
A: The biggest challenge is, of course, the uncertainty at the federal and state level. That’s a shared concern across this country for local governments.
I think another challenge that I’m watching is the 2027 property revaluations. That’s concerning to me. We had a tower that was valued at, I believe, $96 or $97 million off Tryon Street that sold for $24 million or so. That’s not unique to Mecklenburg County. That’s in other urban communities as well. However, that’s concerning when you look at it from a revaluation standpoint. You’re seeing your commercial values decline, and that impact is going to shift the burden from commercial to residential. We’ve already started drafting our communication plan to make sure residents understand where we find ourselves. So that is certainly a challenge that is on the horizon.
Upward mobility altogether is another challenge that we face as a community. That’s why I created a new assistant county manager position that will be solely dedicated to managing and coordinating our upward mobility strategy. They will be focused on workforce development and economic development, as well as some affordable housing initiatives.
We have a lot to celebrate in this organization. We have a dedicated Board of County Commissioners. I’m very appreciative of the board that I report to. Although they may not always agree on certain business matters, they all agree in terms of where they want to take this organization and this community.
Other opportunities that we have lying ahead are just coming together as a community and developing this regional approach to continue to serve this community. That excites me every day.
This story was originally published July 28, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
