GFOA Members Recognized.

• Position: News & Numbers

Michael Bryant, management and budget director for Mecklenburg County (North Carolina) Government and GFOA Executive Board member, was awarded the 2017 A. John "Jack" Vogt Lifetime Achievement Award for Outstanding Commitment to the Advancement of Local Government Budgeting and Evaluation. The award is presented by the North Carolina Local Government Budget Association to recognize innovators in advancing budget and evaluation practices. Recipients are nominated by past Vogt Award winners and must have a minimum of 10 years of local government service in North Carolina.

"I have always enjoyed working with budgets over the course of my career. Each budget cycle presents a different set of challenges and requires a team effort to develop a spend plan that meets the needs of the community," said Bryant. "What excites me beyond the number crunching is peeling back the layers to discuss the policies and array of services that are supported by the budget."

Bryant has been with Mecklenburg County since 2003 and has nearly 20 years of experience in city, county, and state government. His career in government includes employment with the City of Durham, North Carolina; the North Carolina Governor's Office; and Granville County, North Carolina.

Phil Bertolini, chief information officer for Oakland County, Michigan, and frequent contributor to GFOA conferences and training sessions, is a 2017 Governing Public Official of the Year. For every year since 1994...