MAYOR TIM ADAMS

Celebrates his first year as Mayor of the City of Bowie with gratitude and joy

Congratulations on one year as the Mayor. What are your thoughts as you come to the end of your first year?

Over the past year I am extremely proud of the progress we have made as a city. I am extremely proud and appreciative of our City Staff, the City Council and residents of Bowie for coming together and working through this year. We are ensuring that the voices of our citizens are heard. The Citizens Review Board has been established with the Bowie Police Department. This year, the Bowie Police Department received the prestigious award from CALEA® (The Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc) for exemplary agencies. The department underwent a very thorough Investigative process [to ensure that the department was in compliance with the rigorous standards set by CALEA®]. I am very proud of this accomplishment. We are working with Bowie State University on a Memorandum of Understanding for the use of the Bowie Race Track. A few weeks ago, I was able to give my first State of the City address as Mayor. We usually do it in the Spring and it is sponsored by the Greater Bowie City Chamber of Commerce but because of the pandemic we put it off until now. I didn’t want to go this whole year without doing that and it gives me the chance to speak directly to the citizens. I have been sponsoring Covid-19 town halls to remind people how real this [virus] is and how we have to keep each other safe. We have used a variety of ways to inform and protect the citizens of Bowie, and while one of those ways have been through town halls, we also declared a State of Emergency. We as a council have worked hard to make sure that we are protecting the health and safety of our residents, by also creating a Public Health Officer position. The appointed City Public Health Officer will give the council wise counsel and direction on implementing specific initiatives to help combat the spread of COVID-19. Additionally, this year the City Council moved forward in recognizing Juneteenth—which celebrates the emancipation of those who had been enslaved in the United States—as an official holiday.

What are some of your goals for the City of Bowie moving forward?

Overall, our goal is to make the City of Bowie the greatest city in the country. We work with our city staff to make the city more accessible for our disabled community, our elderly community, so that everyone is able to participate in the community. I also want to make this the most equitable city in the world; to bring and maintain fiscal responsibility to the City of Bowie and to stop the overdevelopment. I am very supportive of education and we are motivated to make Bowie the premier city for education, particularly for universal pre-kindergarten. Education is the great equalizer and we want to make sure that our children start off on an equal footing. We have worked with Reid Temple Christian Academy to increase available spaces for income-based pre-k. With our assistance, they have received a grant that allowed them to increase the income eligibility by 300% in order to allow children from all over Prince George’s County to attend. We are especially glad to see families from Bowie attending. We want to make sure that all kids are given an equal opportunity. I also believe that we shouldn’t be dividing our kids based on income all of our kids really learn from each other. Kids are kids. I don’t think that there should be any threshold which is why I am a supporter of universal Pre-K and hope to make it happen here. Children all learn together and learn to grow up together. They should

not in any way, shape or form be stigmatized because of economic conditions. I would love to get universal Pre-k for everyone. When Reid Temple was going for the grant, I wanted to work with them because they are so close to Bowie and [giving more children the opportunity to attend] is the first step in getting closer to universal Pre-k. We would also like to expand workforce housing, not just affordable housing, but to make sure that people like our teachers, firefighters, police, that they have housing that is affordable within the city. We want our professionals here in Bowie. The real thing is making sure we maintain fiscal responsibility and to stop overdevelopment and to maintain the quality of services within the City. We are very proud of that.

2020 has been an extremely challenging year. How has your first year as Mayor been impacted by the Black Lives Matter movement, the COVID-19 pandemic and the presidential election?

I think that the Black Lives Matter movement has enhanced my reach and has given me an opportunity to talk about these concerns more frequently. Systemic racism has always been around and this year has forced us to have the conversation about the dehumanization of black people. Topics of race make people uncomfortable but they are necessary. We were able to pass a Black Lives Matter resolution that will defend black lives and the lives of people of color. The resolution also talks about our deep gratitude to our police department. Our police department has been held as a national model of how it should be done and the demographic of our officers match the demographic of Bowie. I talk to the Chief of Police [John Nesky] often and we want to continue to make sure that our residents feel safe. That is the key no matter what their background or ethnicity. I never thought that I would navigate my first year as Mayor through a pandemic, but it was possible with the great support of the City of Bowie, the Grants department to provide support to the citizens. The city itself has provided $200,000 to the Bowie Business Innovation Center (Bowie BIC) and the Greater Bowie Chamber of Commerce while working to ensure that our residents have a variety of resources to navigate this difficult season. Our neighbors-to-neighbors program has helped by giving rides, the Grants department provides food distribution and we were able to assist with rental payments and eviction notices. I have to say thank you so much to our Emergency Management Department to keep the city moving and working efficiently through all of this. I give a special note of appreciation to our Public Works. The entire city staff and personnel have done an excellent job to ensure we have been able to maintain effective and efficient services through it all. Many of them risking their health to be on the front line and for this we say thank you. The reason that we sponsor these COVID-19 town halls is because we need to get the information out as soon as possible. I know this year is tough, especially at the holidays, but we have to stay safe. We have to wear our masks and take to heart that this may be a virtual holiday. Hopefully by next year we will all come together, but we need to follow the guidelines. Wear your masks, wash your hands, and keep on social distancing. This keeps not only yourself safe, but your family and neighbors as well. As far as the election, I am so proud of our country for making sure that our voices were heard. We had record breaking turn out this year. We have worked very hard as a City to come together. We don’t have any direct role in the election this year, but as a city we did support the County Board of Elections so that all of our

residents were able to cast their votes and minimize difficulties. We are in the process of letting democracy take hold and we all put our personal bias aside. This is democracy at work. No matter the final outcome we want to make sure that we continue, not just for now, but for history to have a model of what democracy looks like. Your vote matters and your voice matters.

How does it feel to be the recipient of University of New Orleans Homer Hitt Distinguished Alumni Award?

It is an honor and it is humbling. Knowing of all the distinguished alumni across the nation and across the world it is not an award that I ever would have thought to have received. I was previously recognized as a distinguished alumnus of the College of Business and to be the distinguished alumnus of the entire university is humbling. Education is such a great equalizer. Long ago someone told me that people can take all the material things from you, but they can never take away your faith and your knowledge, your education. It always stuck with me. The University of New Orleans played a crucial role in my development as a businessman and a leader. I never would have thought that I would receive this award and I am incredibly thankful and honored to have been a recipient in 2020.

What words of encouragement do you have for our community as we end this year?

Even in the darkest of times there is always something to be grateful for. I know that this year has been destructive for so many, but we need to hold on to gratitude and hope. Without these things the heart grows weary and it becomes harder and harder to embrace joy. My eldest daughter, Tiara [Adams], passed away this year and I understand the pain of not being able to properly grieve at this time. I say to all those who have lost someone that we still have the joy of having them in our lives. We must try to reach back to that joy and happiness. Our faith community has played an integral role in helping me, and the citizens of Bowie continue to focus on gratitude and joy, even in the midst of a pandemic. We have many places of worship within the city, and I know that many of our residents, including myself, are thankful for their leadership during such a challenging time. Earlier this month I worked with Union United Methodist Church and spoke at their Men’s Day event, and it truly was a blessing to be surrounded by such positive and encouraging individuals. We will get through this and we will be a stronger nation and stronger individuals. If you are having challenges please reach out to someone and don’t shy away from that. Especially during the holiday season make sure you reach out (virtually) to friends and strangers. Showing love and compassion to our fellow man is the greatest gift we can give to each other and let’s make sure we get through this together. I was so blessed to have my daughter in my life and I was blessed to have been able to share with her the love and all of the good times we had. I believe that God gives us our children for a little while, but they are God’s children and they return home to him. I knew how much she loved me and she knew how much I loved her. I know that things are getting better because I tend to smile before I cry and the smiles keep coming. A part of that gratitude goes to my family, friends and the City of Bowie. When I see how everyone comes together in times of trouble it warms my heart and it lifts my spirits. I am truly blessed to have the love of my wife, Sheila, my twins Timothy Junior and Kayla, and my dear grandson, Tiara’s son, Nehemiyah. I love them all very much and am so grateful for the blessings in my life.