Issue link: http://maconmagazine.uberflip.com/i/1302805
Blight JG: Several years ago, you deemed blight a high priority. How has your blight removal strategy changed? MAYOR: We issued bonds to do big blight projects, and in order to provide the bond's debt service, we took the money we had been using to demolish 100 houses a year and instead used it to repay the bonds. The bonds did a couple of great projects. We spent $2 million in Beall's Hill, a neighborhood that's doing well. We tore down 22 blighted, delipidated structures on Wise Avenue in Pleasant Hill right off Riverside Drive next to the Armory, creating a green space and recreational field. Then, the county commission created 10 pots of money, one for each district, and each commissioner chose a blight project in their own district. Mill Hill Arts Village and the reconstruction of the community center on Clinton Avenue is another good project to which several commissioners contributed – but people didn't easily see the impact. It's estimated that Macon-Bibb has more than 4,000 blighted houses and we were removing 100 a year. At that rate, it would take us 40 years – like Moses wandering in the desert – to remove them all. In the same vein, we must deal with poverty, which isn't a municipal or county function, but is visited on us in a multitude of ways. Intergenerational poverty is responsible for a lot of crime, which breeds ignorance and in turn, breeds poverty. People can't seem to break out of it. Another aspect of poverty is homelessness, a lot of which stems from mental illness. The U.S. Department of Justice sued Georgia and several other states forcing them to find a less restrictive alternative to incarceration for the mentally ill. Over several years, the state of Georgia emptied out Central State Hospital putting 3,500 patients out on the street for out-patient services, which, in my opinion, contributed mightily to homelessness in Macon. As a result, we have mentally ill people wandering the streets who are only semi-able to take care of themselves. And homelessness isn't one-size- fits-all. There are a multitude of reasons someone becomes homeless. Some are mentally ill, others are addicted to drugs, some can't hold a job or get separated from family because of addiction issues. Increasingly, they're creating a public health and public safety issue with which local government is forced to deal. A lot of issues like this come down from the federal level to the state level, and in turn, the state dumps them onto local folks to deal with them. Race JG: Let's talk about race, specifically the situation you found upon taking office 13 years ago and how you see race relations today. MAYOR: In my inaugural speech, I talked about a simmering stew of racism – like a pot of beef stew on the stove. When you walk in, it permeates the house. It's almost the same with racism. We've made tremendous strides in pulling the community together in many different ways. From the beginning, my idea was to work together in new ways, for a change. And people who are black, white, brown and yellow agree it's better when we work together. We're not there yet, but we're on the road moving in the right direction. JG: Some say that race relations have improved in Macon-Bibb, but acknowledge that a small group of persistent agitators remain. MAYOR: Societal attitudes are hard to change, but I agree with Martin Luther King Jr., "The arc of the universe bends slowly, but it bends toward justice." Sometimes that's a good thing. But it must change over generations. Some people and their attitudes have to pass away before we can move forward. That's not to wish anyone ill or dead, but some people are so caught up in the position and baggage they've brought from another generation. JG: The recent killing of several black citizens at the hands of law enforcement officers, including two high profile cases in Georgia, have sparked civil unrest nationwide. What effects have you seen in Macon? MAYOR: They have affected every community in the country, figuring into the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. Macon has been blessed not to have had an incident recently that exacerbated the current national conversation. The last one I can remember that caused concern was Sammy Davis Jr. in 2012 and it had its own set of extenuating circumstances. The current movement is much broader than police tactics and excessive use of force. Today it's "WE'VE MADE TREMENDOUS STRIDES IN PULLING THE COMMUNITY TOGETHER IN MANY DIFFERENT WAYS. FROM THE BEGINNING, MY IDEA WAS TO WORK TOGETHER IN NEW WAYS, FOR A CHANGE." -MAYOR ROBERT REICHERT AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2020 | maconmagazine.com 51