Buncombe Commissioners Appoint New County Manager

At their June 9 special meeting, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners named current Assistant County Manager/Health & Human Services Director Mandy Stone as the new County Manager to be effective July 1.

Ms. Stone succeeds Wanda Greene who announced her intent to retire after 20 years as County Manager earlier this month.   “I am fully confident in the abilities of Mandy Stone to serve as our County Manager,” said Chairman Brownie Newman,  “I believe under her leadership, Ms. Stone will advise and lead us in a highly-capable and professional manner.”   The Commission agreed unanimously that promoting from within was a natural decision that avoided a search and brought the best candidate forward to keep the County running smoothly.  They praised Ms. Stone’s experience, dedication to staff and to the community and were confident that she would move the County in a positive direction.

Ms.  Stone has served Buncombe County since 1981 when she was hired as an Income Maintenance Caseworker at the Department of Social Services.   She moved from that position to Social Worker, Social Work Supervisor, Assistant Director and was appointed Director of Social Services in 2001.   In 2005, Ms. Stone was appointed Assistant County Manager and oversaw the integration and unification of Health and Human Services saving taxpayer dollars and reinvesting those funds into direct service provision within Human Services.  Ms. Stone has been responsible for building numerous smart partnerships which have increased the County’s capacity to serve the community.  Addressing the ever increasing and complicated needs of our community has been a big part of Ms. Stone’s mission, including the opening of the Family Justice Center to address the problems of domestic and sexual violence in the County.  Ms. Stone’s recent work to build racial and economic equity aligns with the mission and vision of the County.  Ms. Stone will begin her role as County Manager on July 1.