After a litany of “thank-you’s,” introduction of elected officials, and a Matrix-themed video featuring Lorraine Cochran-Johnson and her team setting out “to save the county,” the DeKalb County CEO touted her administration’s accomplishments over the past year.
More than 800 people at the Council for Quality Growth’s State of DeKalb luncheon at Doraville’s Assembly Studios heard welcoming remarks from Doraville Mayor Joseph Geierman, an invocation by Rev. William Flippin Sr. of Greater Piney Grove Baptist Church, recognition of sponsors Amazon, the Fulton-DeKalb Hospital, and the Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District before Cochran-Johnson took the stage around 1:30 p.m.
The theme of the luncheon and the CEO’s speech was “Believe the Unbelievable.”
Safety
Cochran-Johnson said one of her top priorities after being elected to office was to address crime in DeKalb County.
“We had to reimagine public safety,” she said. “We studied best practices across the country, and with the support of the board of commissioners, we invested over $30 million in crime prevention.”
Those investments included establishing a real-time crime center, purchasing a drone-first responder program, license plate readers, and surveillance cameras, “all working to reduce crime, enhance response times, and enhance safety across the county.”
Housing
I refuse to let DeKalb be known as a tale of two cities,” she said. “Where you were born should not determine your economic outcome. Your ZIP code should not be more important than your genetic code.”
She said that several affordable housing developments are being built, and said authorities are taking swift legal action on blighted homes.
“We’ve demolished 246 homes since 2019,” she said. “The message is clear – you will be a good neighbor in DeKalb.”
She said for the first time, there is a chief housing officer who will shepherd new investments in the community while preserving the values of existing homes.
“We are building communities that will meet the need,” she said, adding that in 2024, there were 60 citations per month for code enforcement violations that have now elevated to 260 per month.
Community services, technology upgrades
The CEO also discussed the $4 billion 10-year water infrastructure plan that she implemented as one of her first campaign initiatives.
“It was not an easy decision to raise water rates,” she said. “It takes courage. Nobody wants to raise the rates on anything.”
