North Charleston mayor reflects on first year in office, addresses FBI probe

North Charleston, S.C. (WCBD)—Mayor Reggie Burgess is reflecting on this past year in North Charleston as he wraps up his first year in office.

Burgess served as the city’s police chief from 2018 until 2023 when he stepped down to run for mayor. He grew up in North Charleston and the city still holds a special place in his heart. When asked to describe his first year in office as mayor in one word, he said “blessed.”

“I’m very blessed to have this opportunity because being the chief of police I was able to protect people and serve people but being the mayor is more holistic,” Burgess said.

Mayor Burgess has over 30 years of law enforcement experience, five as police chief. He said one of his top priorities is public safety. The latest data from the North Charleston Police Department shows that violent and non-violent crimes decreased in the city in 2024, with a 24% reduction in homicides. Burgess said to continue to reduce crime, he wants to continue to work with the community and not focus solely on law enforcement to prevent crime.

“I mean really just being like in a one-track mindset — it doesn’t work to bring down overall crime, but what does work is when you are working with your community stakeholders,” he explained.

Burgess said he wants to continue to work with nonprofits to combat gun violence in the city, even as a program that involves these partnerships is under FBI investigation. The program in question was launched in 2022 when Burgess was police chief. The city allocated over $1 million to nonprofits dedicated to reducing crime. Now, there have been questions about how the money was spent. Burgess said how he proceeds with any partnerships will be determined by the outcome of the investigation.

“Once this federal investigation is done and the nonprofits that are not affected by that — I am not turning on them, because they helped us to bring crime down in the last three years in our city,” Burgess said. “But this time we will have a mechanism to manage the finances better and we learned from that.”

Moving forward, Burgess said he would handle the program differently.

“We didn’t have any oversight of the finances we just selected the groups by the strength in the community,” he explained. “This time here we would actually get an expenditure every month on how they used the money we gave to them.”

Mayor Burgess said other areas he is focusing on include addressing affordable housing, creating jobs, and improving infrastructure in the city by working in tandem with businesses and the community.

“That’s my drive this year is get that trifecta,” he said. 

Burgess said there are many infrastructure needs in the city including a ramp overpass over the railroad tracks to make room for the bus rapid transit service, as well as making the North Bridge safer for pedestrians.

“Most of the people that live in North Charleston go over the North Bridge to work — why don’t we put pedestrian and bicyclist lane on the side of the bridge — the bridge was built with taxpayer money anyway,” he suggested.

The mayor also points to new additions to the city, including the new senior center and skate park that is coming to North Montague and Spruill Avenues. He said in the future he wants to continue to improve the quality of life in the city.

“Because I don’t want anybody to believe or think that the city of North Charleston is someplace that you go to shop, maybe buy a car, maybe come to see a show — and I don’t want to be that. We’re a great place to live, work, and play.”

Mayor Burgess also spoke to News 2 about the possibility of bringing cruise ships to North Charleston. He said they determined that would be feasible and he is excited about the potential opportunity and jobs it could bring to the city.