DeKalb CEO candidates sparred over water and sewage improvements, open records — and ‘Cop City’ (2024)

DeKalb County CEO candidates Larry Johnson and Lorraine Cochran-Johnson sparred Sunday evening at an Atlanta Press Club debate over water and sewage improvements, government transparency, the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center and housing ahead of Tuesday’s runoff election.

Both candidates stepped down from their seats as DeKalb commissioners to run for the CEO position — one which is unique among Georgia counties and wields substantial power. DeKalb’s CEO can create or abolish county departments and they appoint key county officials, including the planning and finance directors and the county attorney.

Cochrane-Johnson finished first in the May 21 Democratic primary, securing 46% of the vote to Johnson’s 34%. Since a candidate needs a clear majority to win, both will face off in the June 18 runoff. Steve Bradshaw, who was also a DeKalb commissioner, secured 19% of the vote. He has endorsed Johnson.

Because no Republican is running, the winner of the Democratic primary runoff will be DeKalb’s next CEO.

Cochran-Johnson, who served as the Super District 7 commissioner, blasted Johnson, the former District 3 commissioner, for lacking “vision,” while Johnson said his opponent would be a “chief exaggeration officer.” The two candidates offered more than sharp words, laying out differing views on how to approach key concerns to DeKalb voters.

Water

Atlanta’s recent water crisis and DeKalb’s own water and sewer woes put watershed management in the spotlight at the debate.

DeKalb is currently under a consent decree with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division that requires it to upgrade its sewer system to prevent sewage overflows into waterways.

Cochran-Johnson said she secured $1.4 billion to repair and expand DeKalb’s water and sewer infrastructure during her three-year tenure as the county commission’s public works and infrastructure chair. As CEO, she said, she’d line up additional loans and funding through the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to ensure DeKalb has the water and sewer infrastructure it needs.

“In terms of providing and expanding infrastructure, it’s not an option – it is absolutely necessary,” she said. “Many of you are very aware of the incident that happened just days ago here in the city of Atlanta, and we don’t want to have that repeat in DeKalb.”

“We must provide for the expansion of the future,” Cochran-Johnson added. “We cannot expand economic development in certain corridors of DeKalb, because we simply do not have the water sewer capacity. So we have to sharpen our pencils, engage both federal and state officials alongside us, and partner to … take advantage of the current water funds that are available on the federal level as a part of Biden’s Infrastructure Investment Act.”

Cochran-Johnson also supports outgoing DeKalb CEO Michael Thurmond’s proposal to raise county water rates, which would be the first increase in 20 years.

But her opponent Johnson said he would not be so quick to ask for more money from DeKalb residents before exhausting other options. “Our seniors are having a tough time already trying to make ends meet,” he said.

“I voted against the last water increase. My opponent led the effort to increase it,” Johnson said. “We need to look for the federal and state folks to come in first and not burden our taxpayers to make that happen. And so I will continue as your CEO to make sure we find federal help, state help, to make sure that we don’t just burden our taxpayers.”

Transparency

Both CEO candidates support establishing a DeKalb open-records officer. That was a key recommendation from the county’s review of its charter last year.

Instead of creating a new position, Johnson said he would task a member of DeKalb’s law department with overseeing open records requests and making sure the website has clear instructions for open records requests and accessibility to the person in charge.

Johnson said transparency would be “a focal point” of his administration in his response to Atlanta Civic Circle’s candidate questionnaire. He said he’d create “an open data portal, which will make government actions and spending decisions publicly accessible” in his response, to “ensure that our constituents, the people whom we serve, will have the opportunity to hold us accountable.”

At the debate, Cochran-Johnson said, “We’ve had a huge cry for transparency and easy access to information, including audits as well as general documents. So as your CEO, you can expect me to expand upon those and make things easy for our citizens.”

In her response to Atlanta Civic Circle’s questionnaire, Cochran-Johnson promised an “overhaul” of the county government website.

Atlanta Public Safety Training Center

The controversial Atlanta Public Training Center, known as “Cop City” by its opponents, is located in DeKalb County on park land owned by the city of Atlanta – but the county had virtually no say in that decision.

Neither CEO candidate is opposed to the facility, but both had thoughts on how DeKalb might benefit from it. The training center is already under construction, as the city of Atlanta continues to litigate a citizen-led, signature-gathering initiative for a voter referendum.

“Because it’s part of Atlanta, we can’t control it,” Johnson said, noting that pushback from local citizens has prompted the city of Atlanta to allocate funding to improve sidewalks and make other improvements in the adjacent neighborhoods.

“I think you have to create a win-win,” Johnson said. ”We have to find a way for Atlanta to continue to be good neighbors. I will, as the CEO, make sure … we keep doing that to make sure the citizens feel like they’re being heard.”

Cochran-Johnson similarly pointed out that “initially we [DeKalb] did not have a seat at the table.” That was a “missed opportunity,” she said, adding that DeKalb police will benefit from the facility by receiving training on new policing technologies and de-escalation techniques.

“Our current training facilities are woefully inappropriate and out of order for productive use,” she said.

Housing

The candidates offered competing visions on how to address the county’s housing crisis. Read our full explainer on their positions.

Early voting in the Democratic runoff for DeKalb CEO started Monday and ends Friday. Election Day is Tuesday, June 18. Voters who pulled a non-partisan or Democratic ballot for the May 21 primary or who skipped the primary may vote in the primary runoff.