DECATUR, Ala. (WHNT) — Terrance Adkins has lived nearly his entire life in Old Town Decatur.
But he says the neighborhood is a shell of what it once was when he was just a kid, before urban renewal led to a shutdown of vital shops and convenience stores.
The predominantly black community and its needs are rarely an item on the city council’s agenda. That’s something that Adkins says he is looking to change.
“I was not able to enjoy the fruits of my community that my ancestors built due to urban renewal, due to those blight projects. They came in and wiped out a lot of our buildings instead of rebuilding them,” Adkins explained. “We are now sitting on the edge of an $18 million bike trail for Bill Simms that comes from the destruction of the 1956 Highway Act and black communities. That grant and that money could have been used to build buildings.”
Adkins announced that he is running for the seat for his neighborhood in District 1.
Billy Jackson currently holds the District 1 seat and has since 1996. However, Jackson recently announced his intentions to run for Decatur mayor.
Adkins will face Nick Perkins, the brother of Stephen Perkins, who was killed by a Decatur police officer in 2023. Adkins says he is not concerned with a possible split in the important black voter turnout.
“I think two candidates running against each other will make for a better race because we can grow from each other and learn from each other and we’ll see each other doing things, then maybe we might take something from one another that can be utilized in the community,” said Adkins.
Adkins is the co-founder of the social justice group Standing In Power, and his organization has shown strong support for the Perkins family while holding city leaders accountable.
“The steadfastness that I’ve had with getting things changed in Decatur, I think we’ll be able to move District 1 further,” Adkins said. “We will help one another with things that will help our community.”
Adkins also defended the trespassing charges he and five others received after a chaotic city council meeting on April 28. Adkins says he was never notified of the trespass, nor was he ever arrested or has a criminal record.
Adkins told News 19 that his ‘Decatur Mission First’ campaign is a campaign that he hopes will lead to a more responsive city government.
A government that he hopes to be a part of in District 1.
The municipal elections will be held on August 26.
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