Don’t be surprised if you get a call from Al Tillman

As grand opening celebrations were scheduled for Filmore Thomas Park, automated calls went out to family members, west Macon residents and others reminding them of the dates.

Those calls featured a message from Macon-Bibb County Commissioner Al Tillman, who relays information about meetings, project updates and other happenings affecting his district residents. Since becoming commissioner in 2014, he has used the CallingPost service to send messages — maybe about a community forum, an update on the Log Cabin Drive project, or a reminder about a job fair.

Tillman, who pays to use the system, can tailor what groups receive a particular message. His district has about 17,000 residents and covers portions of west and north Macon.

“It’s a quicker way of reaching folks with a voice message to give them an update or let them know what time the meeting is happening,” Tillman said. “What I try and do is choose the Neighborhood Watch groups or those folks in the neighborhoods that everyone looks up to that can share information and encourage people.”

Greenbriar Neighborhood Association President James Goodrum said automated calls from Tillman have been an effective way to get information that he can then pass on to others.

“Sometimes you don’t have time for a lot of personal calls,” he said. “If you have a mechanism to contact numerous people on one call, that’s pretty helpful.”

This story was originally published December 6, 2016 at 12:19 PM with the headline "Don’t be surprised if you get a call from Al Tillman."