Lorraine Cochran-Johnson tests the feel of seven different bowling balls before picking a purple one and walking up to the edge of the lane.
She bowls regularly with a group of senior citizens from throughout DeKalb and boasts that she can play a pretty good game. On this day, after her first ball rolls sideways into the gutter, the DeKalb County commissioner good naturedly says just wait until she’s in her groove.
It doesn’t take long. On the second roll, all 10 pins tip over. Cochran-Johnson watches them fall and then turns around, her hands lifted in the air triumphantly.
“I told you!” she exclaims. “I always get a strike.”
Cochran-Johnson, 54, is hoping to clinch the DeKalb chief executive officer job in just one shot.
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
She is one of three vying to replace a term-limited Michael Thurmond. She is competing against fellow commissioners Steve Bradshaw and Larry Johnson, and because no Republicans filed to run, the position will go to whichever Democrat wins the May 21 primary.
Cochran-Johnson was first elected to the District 7 seat representing the eastern half of the county in 2018, winning a runoff election against an incumbent who was accused of sexual harassment by an aide and who had controversially voted to give himself and other commissioners a 60% pay raise.
Public safety has been at the forefront of Johnson’s initiatives in office. One of her first targets was legislation imposing a moratorium on dollar store developments, in part because of concerns Cochran-Johnson had about crime at the stores.
An Alabama native, Cochran-Johnson worked in Atlanta media before turning to politics. She was an ad representative at Creative Loafing for over a decade before serving as the associate publisher of publications like the Atlanta Daily World and Atlanta Tribune.
She decided to go into politics out of frustration, husband William Johnson said. Her car was stolen from where she’d parked right outside their front door and police told her to just file a report online. It left her feeling worried and unsafe, even more so after the thief used her car to flee police in a high-speed chase down Interstate 20.
“She said, ‘We got to fix this,’” William Johnson recalled.
Then, she pushed for a video surveillance ordinance that would require high-resolution cameras at gas stations, convenience stores and other businesses considered at high risk for crime. The legislation was the first of its kind in the Atlanta metro to be approved, and went into effect last summer.
Other localities in the region and in other states have since modeled their own legislation after Cochran-Johnson’s efforts around dollar stores and video surveillance. Some have been critical for the way it polices certain types of businesses, but Cochran-Johnson said the legislation has struck a fair balance between business owners’ rights and public safety.
“We’re not here to place undue hardship but we are here to create a safe environment,” she said.
Cochran-Johnson’s district stretches from the wealthier northern part of the county to the poorer southern portion, and many of her efforts in office have been designed to narrow the economic gaps between the two. She put her campaign office on Memorial Drive, a dividing line between the two halves of DeKalb, as a symbol of her commitment to improving all of DeKalb, she said.
As commissioner, she contributed $200,000 from her district funds to revive the county’s Land Bank, which helps repurpose blighted properties. If elected, she plans to create a chief housing officer position to address issues of housing affordability. The county needs to be more strategic, she said.
She also wants to restructure code enforcement so that violations are targeted proactively.
Cochran-Johnson sees the DeKalb CEO position as a calling.
“DeKalb County has become my ministry,” she said, adding that her message for DeKalb is a prosperity gospel.
She believes the county is at a crossroads. Under Thurmond, the county has made strides and has stability it didn’t have previously, she said, but there’s still more to do to move DeKalb forward and the county needs a leader who can keep things on track.
For starters, she wants the county to improve its responsiveness to residents. Too often, people contact county officials with a question and can’t get a response, she said. As commissioner, she’s prided herself on transparency and follow-through when residents contact her office, and is known for being one of the easiest commissioners to reach.
Diane Mundine, who lives in Cochran-Johnson’s district, said she had trouble reaching her other commissioner when she had an issue with trash pick-up but Cochran-Johnson responded immediately.
“Anything I needed, she’s there,” Mundine said.
Cochran-Johnson said she would put processes in place to ensure greater efficiency throughout county government.
“It’s time we reimagine government,” she said. “It’s time we operate in a more corporate manner.”
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Both of Cochran-Johnson’s opponents have outraised her, according to the most recent campaign finance reports. She reported raising $118,556 through the end of January and had $53,157 on hand. Bradshaw raised $292,487 and Larry Johnson raised $216,206.
Former commissioners Kathie Gannon and Jeff Rader, who were political mentors, are backing Cochran-Johnson, as are the mayors of several DeKalb cities.
Ultimately, Cochran-Johnson believes the race comes down to capacity, and said her track record shows she will be the most productive if given the CEO’s office.
“I’m not asking you all to vote for me to give me an opportunity,” Cochran-Johnson told supporters at a launch party in March. “I want to finish what I’ve already started.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story misspelled Jeff Rader’s name.
