Atlanta, Georgia Local News
DeKalb County CEO candidates debate on Atlanta Public Training Facility and public safety
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Early voting in Georgia’s runoff races began Monday morning. After the retirement of current DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond, two candidates have emerged to take the position: Lorraine Cochran-Johnson and Larry Johnson. Both candidates debated inside the Georgia Public Broadcasting studios in Midtown Atlanta. Karyn Greer of WSB-TV served as the moderator.
Cochran-Johnson is the Super District 7 commissioner on the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners and was elected in 2019. Larry Johnson on the District 3 Commissioner, which serves portions of southern DeKalb County.
In the May 21st election, Cochran-Johnson won 46% of the vote and Johnson had 34.3% of the vote. However, Cochran-Johnson won 156 voting precincts out of the 191 available in DeKalb County. Stephen Bradshaw was also in the race and carried 19% of the vote.
Cop City and Public Safety
The talk of the Atlanta Public Training facility took center stage. Johnson says the partnership with the City of Atlanta is integral to be sure the training and building of the facility goes ahead. Both candidates support the Atlanta Police Training facility. Johnson says he was not a fan of the location, but was able to put citizens on that board to help direct the resources and training where it needs to go.
“You don’t own the land, but we have to find a way for Atlanta to continue to be good neighbors, and I will, as the CEO, to make sure that that is done,” Johnson said. “We’ll keep doing that, to make sure the citizens feel like they’re being heard. And we will do that, as the CEO of DeKalb County, and make sure that we have not only the best public safety training facility in our area, but also the citizens are being heard.”
Cochran-Johnson also expressed the need for the Atlanta Public Training Facility because police officers face a myriad of challenges.
“I, like most individuals that I represent, have expressed concern,” Cochran-Johnson says. I understand the need, because our officers face really critical and unique times, so the training that is necessary in everything from technology to the use of de-escalation is very critical.”
With respect to safety, Cochran-Johnson says DeKalb County led the state of Georgia for homicides and violent crimes. She believes it is absolutely necessary that an increased number of officers would help reduce violent crime in southern DeKalb County.
“It was determined by the CEO who has the direct authority to set salaries in the county that our officers should earn $55,000. But I believe that we got it wrong. In metro Atlanta, Brookhaven, Dunwoody and Sandy Springs have the highest paid officers, and those starting salaries are at $70,000 now we have to consider the fact that we are dealing with a part of DeKalb that has a higher incidence of violent crime. So in order for us to be competitive and to get officers back on the street, we must have a combination of both a pay increase as well as incentives.”
Notable Endorsements
Cochran-Johnson’s list of endorsements include Jazzmin Cobble, Mayor of Stonecrest; Lynn Deutsch, Mayor of Dunwoody; Joseph Geierman, Mayor of Doraville; Beverly Jones, Mayor of Stone Mountain; Brandy Hall, Mayor of Pine Lake; Brian Mock, Mayor of Chamblee; Shameka Reynolds, Mayor of Lithonia; George Turner, Mayor Pro Tempore Stonecrest; John J. Funny, Mayor Pro Tempore Brookhaven; Stephe Koontz, Councilmember Doraville; John Mesa, Councilmember Chamblee; Alexis Weaver, Councilmember Tucker; and Georgia State House Representatives Mary Margaret Oliver, State House District 82; Rhonda Taylor, State House District 92; and Imani Barnes, State House District 86.
Meanwhile, Larry Johnson’s endorsement list includes, U.S. Congressman Hank Johnson and his wife, DeKalb County Commissioner Mereda Davis-Johnson; Dar’shun Kendrick, State House District 95, Billy Mitchell, Chair of the Georgia Democratic House Caucus, State House District 88; former DeKalb County Commissioner Lee May; the 58th Mayor of Atlanta, Shirley Franklin; and two-time candidate for Georgia governor, Stacey Abrams.
DeKalb County is Georgia’s fourth-most populous county, according to the 2020 Census. All DeKalb County residents can check their voting locations by accessing Georgia’s My Voter Page. For early voting, votes can be cast at any early voting location in DeKalb County. Persons can find all available early voting locations by visiting the Secretary of State’s website and selecting DeKalb County from the list.
To check your polling location on Election Day, a person must type their first initial, last name, date of birth and select DeKalb County. Then, scroll past the address information and find “Polling information”.
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