Issue link: http://maconmagazine.uberflip.com/i/1302805
Election JAMI GAUDET: Let's start with the infancy of your candidacy for mayor. You had a successful law practice and served in the Georgia House of Representatives. What inspired you to run for Macon's top job, and what was your vision? MAYOR REICHERT: I saw the community struggling and divided and was concerned about the future. Let me be candid. I didn't come into office with a clear vision, other than to try to help. The community was tearing itself apart – losing population, losing business and the tax base, and worse, we were angry with ourselves. My vision was to work together as a community. We stumbled into my campaign theme while handing out thousands of NuWay hotdog coupons. The back of the coupon said, "Let's do things a new way." It was a double entendre meaning, let's work together for a change in the community, which became the theme of my inaugural address, "Move On, Move In, Move Up Macon." JG: After inheriting such a fractured city, how did you begin the healing process? MAYOR: When I was in the Georgia legislature, dozens of times I heard, "If Macon and Bibb County would get its act together, it could really be successful." I tried to work with every area of the community to pull us together, and we've had some success, which reinforces the idea that when we work together there's no limit to what we can accomplish. JG: Given the realities of government with competing agendas and a variety of personalities, how did you approach your initiatives? MAYOR: With optimism and enthusiasm. Years ago, the city had a theme, I think the Greater Macon Chamber of Commerce came up with it – Macon believers. I've been a Macon believer for a long time. Consolidation JG: You morphed from mayor of the City of Macon to mayor of Macon- Bibb County, the new consolidated government. How did your goals change with the expansion? MAYOR: We started by trying to annex additional territory into the existing City of Macon, drawing lines that made sense, adding population 360 degrees around the old Macon city limits, and getting rid of some of the crazy lines. But we weren't able to get traction with the legislature to redraw the city lines while also trying to expand the city limits further into Jones County because pieces of Macon protruded into it. We held a public hearing in Gray and a large, angry crowd wanted no part of being part of the City of Macon. Instead of expanding the city limits, state Rep. Allen Peake said he'd prefer that we try consolidation. So, we consolidated the government and unified the people. That became my battle cry. We're all in this together, so let's make it work. JG: Given the enormous complexities of consolidation and the LIFE IS SPRINKLED WITH SERENDIPITY. When asked to tackle a profile on outgoing Macon-Bibb County mayor and native son, Robert A.B. Reichert, I recalled a cover story I penned 10 years ago for e Eleventh Hour. During that expansive Q&A, at the halfway point in his four-year term as the mayor of the City of Macon, Reichert talked about the herculean effort to right-size the government and get Macon's financial house in order while hawking city unity. What a difference a decade makes. Ineligible to run again given the two-term limit in the consolidated government's charter, when the mayor departs in late December he'll have served as mayor of the City of Macon and of consolidated Macon-Bibb County for a total of 13 years. As the days wind down on the Reichert administration, I returned to his office in the Macon-Bibb County Government Center for a couple of chats. An eternal optimist with boundless enthusiasm, the affable chief executive reflects on the colossal legacy projects he championed, namely Macon-Bibb County's 2014 consolidation and the Second Street Corridor. Alternately introspective and animated, Reichert is well-versed on every project and facet of city/county government. We covered a range of topics, including the deep-seated challenges he faced joining two such disparate entities as the City of Macon and Bibb County; the vision and promise of the Second Street Corridor; regrets at unfinished business he'll leave behind; and future plans when he drops the title of mayor and reclaims his privacy. Despite the naysayers, disrupters and inevitable clashes in running a city with a diverse population riddled with generational poverty and crime, the mayor's love for his hometown is unmistakable. His faith in its people and in the city's potential is unshakable. Given his lengthy tenure and the finish line in sight, it stands to reason that Macon- Bibb's chief executive might be a little battle weary, predisposed to spend his final months in office on a glidepath to December. However, the city's 48th mayor and the first of the consolidated government contends it's full-steam ahead. He's juggling a multitude of consequential tasks – balancing the budget, project completions, seizing potential economic development opportunities while debating Confederate monuments and face masks. e game may be almost over, but Reichert's plate remains full and he's determined to run out the clock on his administration just as he entered it – with vigor and enthusiasm. L 48 maconmagazine.com | AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2020