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Board Elects New Chair


12/6/2004

The Wake County Board of Commissioners on Monday, Dec. 6, elected Joe Bryan as its new chair and Tony Gurley as vice chair, effective immediately, for a one-year term. The chair presides over Board meetings and represents the County in an official capacity at community, business and other functions.

Commissioner Bryan joined the Board in December 2002. He has been vice chair for the past year and succeeds Kenn Gardner as chair. He is also chair of the Board's Growth, Land Use and Environment Committee and serves on its Public Safety Committee as well as the Open Space and Parks Advisory Committee. He serves as chair of the Transportation Advisory Committee of the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO) and is the former mayor of Knightdale.

Commissioner Gurley also joined the Board in 2002. He chairs the Board's Budget, Finance and Education Committee and serves on its Human Services Committee and on the Human Services Board.

Bryan said he appreciated the confidence of his fellow commissioners in electing him as chair, and at his request, the Board set its goals to include:

  • School Capital Needs: Work with the school board to develop strategies and an action plan to meet school capital needs over the next four to seven years.
  • Little River/Open Space: Complete Little River Reservoir land acquisition and accelerate progress for open space acquisitions in approved watersheds and corridors.
  • Solid Waste Disposal: Decide on a long-term strategy for solid waste disposal by working in partnership with all municipalities.
  • Mental Health Reform: Work with local legislative delegation on implementation plan for mental health reform and, specifically, identify strategies and action plan for inpatient hospital beds.
  • Urban County Leadership: Take leadership role in establishing a forum/series of meetings for the largest and urbanizing Counties to discuss common issues and promote common legislative agendas around schools, roads/transportation, open space and other issues as identified.
  • Citizen Awareness: Implement strategies to increase citizen awareness of Wake County services.

"Each of these goals is of significant importance to our citizens and represents a priority for this Board over the coming year," Bryan said. "Maintaining a high quality of life for the current and future citizens of Wake County will require us to take action and a leadership role on these issues."

Three commissioners, Gardner, Betty Lou Ward and Harold Webb, were re-elected on Nov. 2 and also sworn in today for four-year terms, Gardner for his second commissioner term, Ward for her fifth, and Webb for his first full term after he was appointed to complete the term of current State Senator Vernon Malone in February 2003. The other commissioners are Herb Council and Phil Jeffreys.

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