Closing Comments from the 3/23/21 BOC Meeting

Good Afternoon Everyone: In honor of Women’s History Month, I would like to exercise a point of personal privilege by giving honor to the wonderful women who have been the most impactful on my life. My mother, Mary Elizabeth Robinson Bradshaw; my maternal grandmother Elizabeth Roseboro Robinson; my paternal grandmother Laura Mae Bradshaw; my sister Alethia Lynn Bradshaw; and my wife Diane Audrey Buchholz Bradshaw. To my mother and my grandmothers who are no longer physically with us, I want you to know your presence is still with me. And I hope that my service makes you proud. On March 12th, my team and I visited Positive Growth, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of children, youth, adults, and families during difficult life transitions by providing comprehensive residential and community-based treatment services. My office was happy to make an allocation from our CARES Act funds to support the work of this great organization. I would like to commend Founder and CEO Joseph Arnold and his wife Rose Arnold for the excellent service that they are providing to our community and thank them for the opportunity to visit. It was an honor to join my friends in the Kingsgate Community for their HOA meeting on March 16th. Kingsgate is a beautiful community in District 4. As usual, we engaged in a spirited discussion on a number of issues of mutual concern. I would like to thank my good friend, HOA President Bill Byrd for the invitation. I look forward to visiting again in the future. Likewise, on March 18th, I was honored to join my friends in the Monteagle Trace community for their HOA meeting. Monteagle is another beautiful community in District 4. And we also engaged in a spirited discussion on a number of issues of mutual concern. I would like to thank HOA President Stanley Pritchett for the invitation. I look forward to visiting again in the future as well. It was a great privilege to join Mayor Eric Clarkson and the leadership of the City of Chamblee for a ribbon cutting ceremony for their new public safety headquarters building on March 19th. This is a great accomplishment for the City of Chamblee which ultimately redounds to the benefit of DeKalb County as whole. As Mayor Clarkson has said, “our cities are jewels that should be polished.” I agree with that sentiment. And I look forward to returning to Chamblee for more great events in the future. On March 20th, is was an honor to bear witness as a new class was inducted into the DeKalb Chapter of 100 Black Men, Inc. This is an organization that focuses on serving our community, particularly our youth. Also, Mr. Ronald William Lewis, the father of our very own Diamond Lewis received special recognition for his service to the organization over many years. It was indeed an honor to bear witness to that recognition. I want to commend Chapter President, Andre Deas for his excellent leadership, and underscore how proud I am to be one in the number. On March 22nd, it was a great pleasure to participate in the most recent opening ceremony for the RISE UP Program. This is an initiative that my office has been proud to fund over the past few years which provides mentorship and life skills development to middle school aged boys of color. Since I started funding this program 96 boys have graduated. For this cycle, our mentors are several young men from Morehouse College, and we are so grateful to them for taking the time to serve in these important roles. 45 boys from 5 middle schools in District 4 are enrolled for this cycle. And I want to commend and thank Damon Scott Director of our Human Services Department and Jashawn Williams Division Manager of our Office of Youth Services for the excellent administration of this program. Obviously, this is something that is very close to my heart. As I have said on many occasions, I am a 57-year-old black man. Which means that once upon a time, I was a black boy. Had it not been for certain interventions in my life when I was young, who knows where I may have ended up. I intend to continue to support this program for as long as I remain in office. Finally, for the citizens in District 4 and throughout DeKalb County, I can report that now that I meet the age eligibility requirement, I was able to get my first COVID 19 vaccine yesterday. Overall, the process went very smoothly. Aside from my arm being a little sore this morning, I feel fine. I would like to commend and thank Stefani Carter from the Health Department and all of the good people at the Stonecrest location for their professionalism and their service to our community. Also, I would like to encourage all DeKalb County residents who are eligible to get a vaccine as soon as possible. This pandemic is far from over. I will close today by once again thanking the citizens of District 4 for affording me this opportunity to serve. It is indeed an honor.