North Charleston Mayor Reggie Burgess sworn in

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – Former North Charleston Police Chief Reggie Burgess is officially the Mayor of North Charleston after he was sworn in on Tuesday night.

“I think he got great and wonderful things in store for the City of North Charleston,” said Latonia Wine, a North Charleston resident.

Wine and hundreds of others packed the Charleston Area Convention Center to witness the monumental moment.

Mayor Burgess’ family, friends, colleagues, and even several of his former teammates from Morgan State University were among those in the crowd.

“Me and my friends here we all lived together, we kind of grew up together as football players at Morgan State and we all know that he deserves it. He’s a great guy and we had to come down and support him,” said Keith Rogers, a longtime friend of Mayor Burgess.

North Charleston City Council members Mike Brown, Rhonda Jerome, Sandino Moses, Dr. Charmaine Palmer-Roberts, Jerome Heyward, Nefertiti Brown, Michael Brown, Brandon Hudson, Kenny Skipper, and Michael Brown were sworn in first.

Then came time for Mayor Burgess to take the Oath of Office.

“Truly blessed, truly blessed. I’m a Christian and I believe in my faith and the Lord Jesus and I would’ve never made it this far without that,” Mayor Burgess told reporters after the ceremony.

Mayor Burgess is North Charleston’s first black mayor. The start of his term marks the first time North Charleston will have a new mayor in 30 years. Longtime Mayor Keith Summey announced in March he would not seek an eighth term.

“The people spoke. They say that they want to give me a chance. And I will be accountable to everything I do. I will be. Cause I’m a North Charleston kid,” Mayor Burgess said.

The mayor said he is planning to hold listening sessions with community members. He also plans to take city council meetings to different parts of North Charleston.