No Wheelchairs in PGC Council Chamber

Prince George’s County’s Dirty Little Secret: The Chamber They Never Fixed

By Barry O’Connell

Maryland Wire

Prince George’s County has been sitting on a quiet crisis for years, and it finally broke into view the moment Timothy Adams—now the first wheelchair‑using member of the County Council—took his seat. Or rather, couldn’t.

Because the truth is simple, embarrassing, and entirely avoidable:

The County Council chamber is not ADA‑compliant.

It has not been ADA‑compliant for years.

And no administration or council leadership fixed it.

Multiple sources inside county government confirm that the chamber’s design prevents a wheelchair‑using member from physically accessing the dais. As a result, Adams has been forced to attend meetings remotely—not because of preference, but because the county’s legislative chamber literally cannot accommodate him.

Behind the scenes, staff have been scrambling. According to internal estimates shared with the Maryland Wire, the county is now preparing a $700,000 renovation, including the removal of historic woodwork and installation of a compliant ramp system. The work is extensive, disruptive, and—most importantly—long overdue.

According to internal sources when County Council Chair Krystal Oriadha was told about the ADA regulations she said she would look into it and asked how to spell ADA.

A Failure Years in the Making

This isn’t a sudden discovery.

This isn’t a surprise.

This isn’t a new problem.

The chamber’s inaccessibility has been known to county leadership for multiple administrations, across both the executive and legislative branches. Yet year after year, budget after budget, the issue was deferred, sidelined, or quietly ignored.

Now, with a wheelchair‑using councilmember finally in office, the consequences of that neglect are unavoidable.

Political Fallout Is Coming

The optics are brutal:

• - A county that brands itself as progressive and inclusive

• - A legislative chamber that excludes a sitting member

• - A multimillion‑dollar government that somehow never prioritized basic accessibility

This is the kind of institutional failure that doesn’t stay quiet.

It raises questions about governance, priorities, and competence—questions that will inevitably reach anyone who held executive authority during the years the chamber remained noncompliant.

Campaigns—local, state, and federal—do not like surprises.

This one is going to land with a thud.

The Human Reality

While the county scrambles to retrofit its own seat of government, Adams continues to serve remotely. He shows up. He participates. He does the job.

The chamber, meanwhile, sits unchanged—an architectural reminder of a government that talked about inclusion but never built for it.

The Bottom Line

Prince George’s County had years to fix this.

It didn’t.

Now the bill is coming due—financially, politically, and publicly.

This is the county’s dirty little secret.

And it’s not staying secret much longer.