Newsroom
For Immediate Release
Friday, April 02, 2010
Arlington Names Michael Brown New County Manager
- Current City Manager of Savannah, Georgia; seasoned professional
- Northern Virginia native
- Joins County May 17
ARLINGTON, VA --- Jay Fisette, chairman of the Arlington County Board, today announced that the County Board has hired Michael Brown as its new county manager. Brown is currently the city manager of Savannah, Georgia, a post he has held for 15 years. He will join Arlington County on Monday, May 17.
“Michael Brown is a thoughtful, articulate and dedicated manager who brings broad expertise and a record of strong fiscal management,” said Fisette. “He has a proven track record of success on economic development, public safety, and regional and planning issues. We look forward to having him on our team.”
A seasoned professional
Brown’s experience in local government includes management of virtually every aspect of proactive
local governance, especially economic and community development, public safety, fiscal stewardship, and capital/special project implementation. A few recent highlights:
- City management: Successfully merged the City and County police departments and strengthened what is now a joint City-County public safety agency. Served as a voting member of the Metropolitan Planning Commission. Implemented “Budgeting for Outcomes” to support City Council priorities. Worked to sustain a 27% property tax rate reduction over 10 years. Champions the use of technology to better serve citizens and initiated a 311 system that fulfills 200,000 citizen requests per year.
- Economic development and community vitality: Supervised City assistance to more than $1 billion in current downtown projects, including mixed-used riverfront development, and downtown retail, hotel and condominium development. Over the past 10 years, City partnerships have produced more than 5,000 units of affordable housing. Preserved the historic character of Savannah’s core city.
- Regional efforts: Worked across the region on a number of complex issues, including public safety, schools. Regional cooperation enabled successful expansion of the City’s port and airport. Facilitated City role in passage of $890 million in special sales taxes for capital projects and implemented a $200 million drainage program in 13 basins.
“Michael has extensive experience working collaboratively in a diverse environment,” said Christopher Zimmerman, vice-chairman of the Arlington County Board. “He has proven his commitment to community involvement in policy-making and values a wide variety of ideas as part of the decision-making process.”
“Arlington is a wonderful, world class community with great leadership including the Arlington County Board and staff,” commented Brown. “I am very appreciative of this appointment by the County Board. I hope that my skills and experience will be of real value in a number of initiatives such as plans for the growth corridors, neighborhood vitality, mobility, environmental sustainability, and good fiscal management. Also I share the Board's and the community's commitment to diversity and to inclusive citizen engagement and collaborative decision making. My wife Linda Lee and I are excited about Arlington's many community cultural assets and opportunities.”
Prior to joining Savannah, Brown was city and county manager of Columbus, Georgia and town manager of Stratford, Connecticut. He had also served previously as assistant city manager of Savannah.
Brown is a Credentialed Manager and member of the International City/County Manager Association. He graduated from the University of Virginia (Phi Beta Kappa) with both an undergraduate degree and a Master of Public Administration degree. He and his wife are natives of Northern Virginia’s Prince William County, have three children, and enjoy kayaking and backpacking. The couple will move to Arlington County.
Arlington press contact: Diana Sun, 703-228-3247
Arlington, Va., is a world-class residential, business and tourist location that was originally part of the "10 miles square" parcel of land surveyed in 1791 to be the Nation's Capital. It is the geographically smallest self-governing county in the United States, occupying slightly less than 26 square miles. Arlington maintains a rich variety of stable neighborhoods, quality schools and enlightened land use, and received the Environmental Protection Agency's highest award for "Smart Growth" in 2002. Home to some of the most influential organizations in the world - including the Pentagon - Arlington stands out as one of America's preeminent places to live, visit and do business.