Good afternoon, everyone:
I would like to begin my comments today by offering my sincere condolences to the family and friends of former Sheriff Thomas Brown on the passing of his brother Maceo. Thomas Brown has been a great friend and mentor to me and I was honored to stand with him at this sad time.
On July 2 it was an honor to join Pastor Dawn Wright and the Congregation at Star Community United Methodist Church on Memorial Drive in Stone Mountain for their One Year Anniversary. Star Community UMC was born out of a merger between Allgood Road UMC and St. Timothy UMC, two longtime DeKalb and District 4 Congregations. It was a wonderful service and celebration and I was very happy to be invited. I wish the newly formed Star Community UMC nothing but success and blessings in the future.

Of course, we all celebrated the July 4th holiday. I was able to participate in several events around America’s birthday, to include the Dunwoody Parade. While America is not perfect, there is no other place that I would rather live. And may we all be mindful of the fact that this experiment in self-government is fragile and therefore has to be defended.
On July 8 I had the great privilege of serving as a judge for the 1st Annual Thomas W. Dortch Jr. Youth Entrepreneurship Competition sponsored by the 100 Black Men of DeKalb County. Think of the TV show Shark Tank.
The event took place at the Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs in Atlanta. The competitors were students between the ages of 12 and 18 who stood before us as judges and a room full of other people pitching their business ideas. The experience for me was totally amazing and I was blown away by the poise and business acumen that was demonstrated by these young people.
As judges, I would say that we were a lot more encouraging and a lot less critical than the judges on Shark Tank. Nevertheless, we had a job to do. And I certainly took that responsibility very seriously. Having said that, I know it took a lot of courage for the students to do what they did. Therefore, they are all winners in my eyes.
I have a feeling that we will be seeing some, if not all these budding entrepreneurs achieve stunning success not too far down the road. Therefore, I will use this space to acknowledge each of them for stepping up.
Seth Hubbard: Generational News
Ashlyn Fambro: Charmed By Ashlyn
Aniyah Terry: Glowing & Growing, LLC
Dejuan Parker: Vex The World
Kendyl Burse: Kreative Beings
Taryn Green: Green Investigative Services
Chris Hickman: Love Over Violence Apparel
Samuel McDaniel: Fresh Whisp
Cire Windom: Cire’s Smoothies
It warmed my heart to see these awesome young people in action. I am so proud of them.
I also want to commend my 100 Black Men Brothers Troy Vincent and Chris Anglin for leading the charge in putting this competition together. And thank them for inviting me to participate. It was certainly one of the highlights of my time in office.
Finally, I am very pleased to announce that on next Thursday, July 20, we will be hosting a ribbon-cutting ceremony for our brand new 24,000 square feet Senior & Community Center at South Hairston and Elam Roads. This project has been a long time coming and is very close to my heart. I am so happy that we will be able to deliver this wonderful facility to the citizens of District 4 and all of DeKalb County. More information will be available across our communications platforms. We hope to see you there!

Also, our next Quarterly in the Fourth Community Breakfast meeting will be held on Saturday, July 22, at 9am, at the Tobie Grant Recreational facility.

If you have any questions or concerns, you may call my office at 404-371-4749, or visit my website at commissionerbradshaw.com. Follow me on all the major social media platforms for updates between the meetings, too.
As always, I will conclude my remarks by thanking the citizens of District 4 and DeKalb County for affording me this opportunity to serve. It is indeed an honor.
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