Community organizer in race for Urbana mayor: 'I'm a good-government person'
Sep. 30—URBANA — Annie Adams wasn't originally sure if she wanted to move to Urbana.
She and her husband were living in Chicago's Andersonville neighborhood when he began working for the University of Illinois and started commuting to Urbana, telling her how great it was each time he returned. Finally, she decided to join him for a visit and was immediately converted.
"I came down for the weekend, and I was like, 'Oh, my god,'" Adams recalled. "I was just blown away by the fact that I could bike, and I could walk, and people were just so friendly, and the food was great. It just blew away my expectations for what a city could be like that wasn't in a major metropolitan area."
Nine years later, Adams is now running to lead Urbana as its next mayor. Until her Friday announcement, fellow Democrat DeShawn Williams, Champaign County's chief deputy treasurer, was the only candidate to replace Diane Marlin, who is stepping down when her term ends in 2025.
The 2025 primary is set for Feb. 25, with early voting starting Jan. 16. As the race now stands, whoever wins will run unopposed in the April 1 consolidated election.
Raised in Waukesha, Wis., by an electronics professor and a gymnastics teacher, Adams traced her passion for civics to the wide-ranging conversations she'd have at dinner while growing up in her multiracial household, as some of her seven siblings were adopted.
After studying art at the University of Minnesota and photography at the Rhode Island School of Design, she lived in Chicago, where she got involved with a variety of civic-engagement projects.
Adams served on a commission focused on re-imagining DuSable Lake Shore Drive, and worked alongside then-48th Ward Alderman Harry Osterman on community initiatives involving bike parades, bike racks and large-scale public art aimed at creating seating for more common spaces.
"For me, I'm a good-government person," Adams said.
"I believe in government; I'm glad we have it. I think it's important that it operates well, it works well and it serves people. I really believe in democracy, and I believe the way democracy works is if we lean in and help make it work."
Her interest in "making sure people feel like they can talk to each other" led her to undertake similar types of projects when she moved to Urbana in 2015, as she helped launch Imbibe Urbana, Urbana First Fridays and the ongoing Urbana Amble: Front Yard Garden and Art Tour.
Adams first met Marlin, who announced in May that she won't seeking a third term, through her work organizing Imbibe Urbana.
After working closely with city government officials through her various projects, and while serving on the Urbana Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission, Adams said she's been able to witness Marlin and her staff help turn around the city's $2.5 million deficit.
The groundwork Marlin's administration has put in place is partly why Adams said she wanted to enter the race: She feels like Urbana is well poised now to enact some exciting new initiatives, and she would be a good advocate to foster discussions with people towards meaningful change.
Adams' campaign named seven priorities: sustainable growth, expanded housing opportunities, safe and connected transportation, community safety, racial equity and social justice, social health and well being, and environmental resilience.
But she said each is ultimately intertwined in one of her main goals for the city: expanding its population and revenue.
Adams noted that Urbana had 38,000 residents and a 6-square-mile footprint in 1970, and despite doubling its footprint since then, it still has approximately 38,000 residents today.
Notably, Adams' campaign website features an endorsement from Marlin.
"Annie F. Adams has experience, vision and a passion for public service. Most of all, she loves living in the city of Urbana and has worked for the past 10 years to improve safety, celebrate neighborhoods and bring people together through the arts in our community," Marlin wrote.
Adams now works in communications for the UI.
Moving forward, she'll spend the next five months canvassing, gathering signatures to get her name on the ballot and raising funds for yard signs.
In the meantime, she said she feels really excited to put her coalition into action and campaign to run the city that blew her away.
"I look forward to meeting more people who live in Urbana and hearing what they like about the city, hearing maybe what changes they possibly might like to see in the city, and trying to figure out, if I was mayor, how I could possibly help folks get what they need," Adams said.
