Patrick J. O'Brien (Mint Hill Town Council, North Carolina, candidate 2025)
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Patrick J. O'Brien ran for election to the Mint Hill Town Council in North Carolina. He was on the ballot in the general election on November 4, 2025.[source]
O'Brien completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.
[1]Biography
Patrick J. O'Brien provided the following biographical information via Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey on August 18, 2025:
- Birth date: June 29, 1957
- Birth place: Bronx, New York
- High school: Suffern High School
- Bachelor's: Ramapo College of New Jersey, 1994
- Gender: Male
- Religion: Catholic
- Profession: Accounting Manager
- Incumbent officeholder: No
Elections
General election
General election for Mint Hill Town Council (2 seats)
Twanna Henderson, Patrick Holton, Trey Long, Patrick J. O'Brien, and Matt Schwoebel ran in the general election for Mint Hill Town Council on November 4, 2025.
Candidate | ||
| Twanna Henderson (Nonpartisan) | ||
Patrick Holton (Nonpartisan)  | ||
| Trey Long (Nonpartisan) | ||
| Patrick J. O'Brien (Nonpartisan) | ||
| Matt Schwoebel (Nonpartisan) | ||
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| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Election results
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for O'Brien in this election.
Campaign themes
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Patrick J. O'Brien completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by O'Brien's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I have called Mint Hill home since 2013 and consider myself lucky to discover the town when searching for a place to set down roots in the Charlotte metro area. I grew up in a small rural town outside New York City and lived in suburban New Jersey for 30 years. I have many varied interests such as swimming which I am very grateful for the local YMCA's here that allow me to continue working out, as well as the greenway systems here that are the perfect places to jog and walk my dogs enjoying the open spaces. I have always enjoyed music and performing since I took piano lessons as a child and was very happy to find GMCC here in 2012 to replace the community men's chorus I was a member of in Ridgewood New Jersey for 10 years. I have just stepped down after serving for 10 years as Treasurer and Board Member for GMCC
At the moment I am a semi-retired Accountant/Auditor and financial consultant, although I do still hold an active CPA license. I have worked extensively in the financial services industries primarily with large Life Insurance and Reinsurance companies, Brokerage firms and large banks.
- I am opposed to the transit plan funded by the one cent increase in the Mecklenburg County sales tax in its current form because it does not adequately serve the residents in East Charlotte, Matthews and Mint Hill. Approving this measure on the ballot in November will lock us into this plan for 30 years and in exchange for minimal road improvements that should be funded by federal and state gasoline and EV registration taxes anyway. The proposed silver line light rail from Matthews to the Charlotte-Douglas airport will effectively be shelved and residents will be forced to rely on busses running up Independence Boulevard or their own cars. We need to send the county commission back to the drawing board and have them examine all options.
- The Mint Hill Town Commission is responsible for evaluating residential, commercial and industrial development within the town and must ensure that approved plans are in the best interest of all our residents, current and future. The town commission needs to review plans and ensure the infrastructure of schools, roads, water and sewer can adequately support this growth. In addition, plans should include affordable housing units to ensure Mint Hill is still an accessible town to attract young families and first-time home buyers.
- Our local government needs to be more transparent to our residents and communicate with them often and fully so they can understand the issues facing the town, the discussions of the facts and circumstances that lead to the decisions made by the mayor and town commission based on the recommendations from the Town Manager, Planning Board/Parks and Recreation Committee and Board of Adjustment.
Investing in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) initiatives is an area of public policy near and dear to my heart. I believe we need to do what we can to preserve our environment including investing in clean energy, halting unchecked development to preserve our open and wild spaces and accountable methods of waste management. I believe we all should support equal opportunities for all citizens especially for employment, education and employment and protect these same opportunities to promote diversity, equity and inclusion for underserved segments of our communities including but not limited to LGBTQ, black, Hispanic and immigrant communities. Corporate governance decisions made in this oligarchy do in fact affect our livelihoods.
Town Commissioners along with the Mayor in Mint Hill comprise the legislative body for town government and in turn are responsible for appointing the Town Manager who is the Chief Executive Officer and responsible for the daily operations of the town.
Pete Buttigieg because he exemplifies industry, courage, intelligence and most of all because he exhibits a calm patient demeanor as he employs his intelligence and wit to disarm and dismantle the worst of the MAGA regime. Doesn't hurt also that he is a role model for LGBTQ Americans as a partner and father.
While I have voted in every election since I was first eligible at age 18 I would not characterize myself as politically active until recently. When I voted in my first election after becoming a resident of North Carolina I was confused by the fact that I didn't receive a ballot in the mail listing the candidates in my district. Voting for judges was also a foreign concept for me as we do not elect judges in New York or New Jersey. And then when I connected to Ballotpedia to research the candidates I was appalled to see so many uncontested races and I thought what the heck could be the reason for this. Well that was my introduction to extreme gerrymandering North Carolina style circa 2012. Since political science is a fairly new realm for me I figured I should start at the beginning, which for me is reading the works of Thomas Paine The Rights of Man, Common Sense and The Age of Reason and The Federalist Papers authored by Alexander Hamilton (he planned Paterson New Jersey as an industrial city where I lived for 25 years) James Madison and John Jay. The principles laid out in these foundational works flush out most of the thinking of the United States' founding fathers when constructing the framework of our democratic government.
Elected officials need to hear and listen to the needs and issues that most affect their constituents. Actions taken must be made after evaluating all available evidence and
Patience and perseverance.
Elected officials must represent all their constituents not just those voters that elected them to office. Public service
I recall the nuns at St Gregory Barbarigo Catholic school in Garnerville, New York calling a general assembly in the afternoon to break the news to all the students there that President John F. Kennedy had been assassinated in Dallas, Texas. I was 6 years old at the time and would have been in second grade, and pretty sure that the only thing I knew about Dallas and Texas was where they were on a map and that Dallas was the capital of that state. Although they maintained their composure the nuns were very upset as we could tell in part because JFK was the first Catholic President of the United States.
My first job was cleaning the parking lots at the rest area on the New York State Thruway that ran through our town. I later worked as a bus boy in the dining rooms and eventually as a prep cook and cook in the kitchens for the main dining rooms and in summers cooking ham and egg sandwiches and hamburgers in the snack bar. I started shortly before my 16th birthday and worked there until I finished high school.
A colleague in New York that I found out was a voracious reader recommended a series of books by South African author Wilbur Smith. The first installment I read 'Birds of Prey' describes the maritime adventures of a second son of an English family as he seeks his fortune in Africa, Arabia and India. In particular Wilbur's account and description of the protagonists' failure to save his father from the Dutch authorities then in power in Cape Town and discovering his body after a public execution in the castle ground had me hooked as he expertly poured out the emotions of father and son love and loss, anger, revenge and calculated military/naval strategy. The series follows the exploits of various members of the Courtney family from the early 18th century through the 1950's apartheid era in South Africa. I just read the last of the series published posthumously 'Nemesis' which starts with Constance Courtney executed during the reign of terror during the French Revolution and follows the life of her youngest and only surviving son through South Africa, East Africa and India. I highly recommend them as they provided me with welcome distraction on my commute between New Jersey and New York City on the trains and ferry.
I have secretly always wanted to perform 'Gus the theatre Cat' from Cats. The first time I saw the show I was captivated by the character's transformation from an old cat plagued by 'palsy' to a young, robust well respected character actor when retelling stories of his exploits on the stage (for a toothful of gin!).
'Stars' as performed by Phillip Quast from Les Miserables
Learning to play the piano! I took lessons as a kid but was a bit too young to pick up music theory and never advanced enough to be able to learn pieces quickly or improvise. I am attempting to pick it up again and this time I am trying a 'learn by ear' methodology. Too early to tell, but I have to spend more time on the earlier lessons and theory before I will have any measure of satisfaction.
I venture to guess that not too many residents are aware that the mayor the town commissioners appoint the Town Manager.
Yes I do believe that previous experience is always a valuable asset that anyone can bring to a new position or office, however experience in other spheres such as corporate financial management, regulatory reporting and compliance are skills that can be drawn upon for successful holders of this office. I have learned over the years that the new guy in the organization often brings a fresh set of eyes to problems and processes and often asks fundamental questions and pose challenges to established norms that others take for granted.
Real estate investment experience in residential and commercial development will come in handy for this position as we evaluate
Town Commissioners have the ability to help shape the future development of Mint Hill and ensure that the needs of all residents are evaluated and addressed in each project that comes before the board of commissioners for approval.
LGBTQ+ Democrats NC of Mecklenburg County,
As an auditor and CPA I believe it is essential for our government at all levels from local to federal to be transparent on all areas of financial management including budgeting, revenue generation and expenditure spending. I also strongly believe that judicial, legislative and executive members of our local, county, state and federal governments should be subject to the same independence standards that I as a CPA am subject to under the supervision of the SEC.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2025 Elections
External links
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Footnotes
