Brunswick County has hired a new planning director.
Michael Hargett, currently Carolina Shores’ town administrator and a former assistant manager for the City of Wilmington, will report to his new post later this month, a Monday morning press release said.
Hargett’s contract with the county will provide him an annual salary of $92,000 and an $80-per-month smartphone stipend, according to the county’s public information office.
“I am very pleased and honored to have been selected for the position,” Hargett is quoted as saying in Monday’s release. “My dealings with Brunswick County government over the years have always been positive. The current administration is very impressive and I am looking forward to becoming a member of the team.”
Hargett, winding down the role he’s held with Carolina Shores’ town government since 2011, can call on at least two decades of public and private experience, according to a profile from Brunswick County. It lists work with the City of Wilmington as assistant manager, development services director, budget officer and in planning. Under a private firm called Management & Planning Services LLC, he performed contract planning work for Leland, Sunset Beach, Whiteville, East Arcadia, Sandyfield and Lenoir County.
His profile on profession-focused social media site LinkedIn also lists him as owner and president of a company founded in 2005 called Hargett Realty & Development.
That résumé earned him his new hat in Brunswick County, officials said.
“He has experience as a developer and Realtor, as well as leadership roles in public service,” said County Manager Ann Hardy. “I am confident that he will be an exceptional Planning Director for Brunswick County.”
“I think his training, his work history, his personality and his management style are a great match for Brunswick County and our planning department, and that he’ll be a good leader to the department and a good resource to the community,” said Steve Stone, deputy county manager.
Hargett follows longtime planning director Leslie Bell, who left the Brunswick post in August for a similar role in Guilford County.
Related story: Longtime Brunswick planning director Bell leaving for Guilford job
During Bell’s 15-year term (for most of it as planning director), Brunswick County experienced rapid transformation, with population and development booms that at one point put it in the U.S. Census Bureau’s national top-20 list of fastest-growing counties.
Brunswick County remains in the top 100.
Ben Brown is a news reporter at Port City Daily. Reach him at [email protected] or (910) 772-6335. On Twitter: @benbrownmedia
