Reichert: State of City “Energetic and Vibrant”

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – The State of the City of Macon is energetic and vibrant.

Those are the words Mayor Robert Reichert used Thursday to describe the city in his State of the City address at city hall.

The speech wrapped up a month long of public information sessions around town where the mayor has offered information pertaining to his plan for the city as it gets ready to consolidate with Bibb County.

The administration will use the B.E.S.T model over the next 11 months–that stands for Build a Sustainable Community, Educate our Citizens, Safety and Services in Every Neighborhood, and Transit and Technology Throughout the Region.

“Only when we work together are we going to be able to make the changes that we want,” says Reichert.  “There is a sense of optimism and a mood of making things right, and we want to capitalize on that mood and build a better community.”

Some of the items included in the mayor’s plan are the Second Street Downtown Corridor Project, a new 800 MHz Emergency Radio System, and a new connector from Sardis Church Road at State Route 247 to I-16 at Sgoda Road.

Macon officially consolidates with Bibb County in January 2014.

Protestors Interrupt Speech

During Reichert’s address, he was interrupted by a group of protestors who are angry about how long the investigation into last month’s police-involved shooting of Sammie Davis, Jr. has taken.

After being interrupted several times, Reichert addressed the protestors and told them he’d be happy to speak with them after his address.

Some in the community are outraged that the investigation, which has been turned over to the GBI, is taking so long.

“I obviously understand the family’s interest in wanting to know and not understanding the process and why is it taking so long,” says Reichert.  “If I had had the opportunity, I would have told the people out there that I called the district attorney’s office and made inquiry within the last week about where we were in this process and I was re-assured that no results had come back from the GBI yet.”

Monday, Keith Moffett with Reichert’s office told Macon’s Public Safety Committee the GBI expects to complete its investigation into the Dec. 21 shooting at the Pio Nono Avenue Kroger by mid-February.