Out of the armchair

Jennifer Kho

COSTA MESA -- Everywhere Harvey Alexander Cochran goes in the city, a

disposable camera goes with him.

Photographs are not a hobby for Cochran; they are a way to make a

point at City Council meetings.

They have become a symbol for Cochran that he is no longer -- as of

Dec. 22 -- an “armchair advocate.”

“Ever since I moved to Costa Mesa in 1997, I have been watching

council meetings on TV,” said Cochran, a representative for Californians

for Disability Rights and Advocacy who joined the organization in 1995.

“I finally decided to get off my butt. I wanted to see changes in the

city, and I felt it was up to the citizens to advise the council of the

things that are important to them. Every time I go up to talk, it’s a

public challenge for others to get up and do something.”

Two of the reasons Cochran said he was inspired to leave the comfort

of his armchair are Joel Faris and Michael Clifford, both of whom ran for

City Council positions in November.

Following their lead, Cochran said he plans to run for City Council in

2002.

“People with disabilities have not had a say in City Council for

years,” he said. “It’s time we had that back.”

Another reason he came to his first council meeting Dec. 22 -- and has

come to every one since -- is the election of Councilman Chris Steel, who

was sworn in at the previous meeting.

Cochran said Steel has been receptive to his ideas and seems to agree

that code enforcement should be a top priority.

Code enforcement has become an important issue to Cochran because he

is the vice president of the Beechwood chapter of the disability

organization, and he sees code enforcement as a way to improve wheelchair

accessibility.

Another important issue for Cochran is the availability of apartments

and other rentals.

“Not everyone can afford to buy a house, and that doesn’t mean you

can’t be involved. It doesn’t mean your point of view is not important,”

Cochran said.

Cochran said he fights for equal access for people who use wheelchairs

because he remembers the discrimination his mother, who had polio,

suffered.

“It was like she was a subclass of human being,” he said. “It’s all

civil rights. People have the right to equal liberties, to go where they

want to go, to be who they want to be.”

Cochran, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder when he was 10, said

he knows what it means to be discriminated against.

Bipolar disorder is a chemical imbalance in the brain that sometimes

gives Cochran a rush-like feeling. The rushes make Cochran speak quickly,

for example.

Otherwise, the condition is not debilitating, but Cochran said people

sometimes treat him as though it is.

“At one point, the [discrimination] was so serious, I ended up being

institutionalized,” he said. “At that time, there was just no

understanding of my condition, and people were considered insane if they

had problems. Since then, I have had nothing but a healthy life, but at

least now I feel I can relate to other people who have problems, and I

feel I can represent them.”

Cochran said he would like the council members to go through one

meeting in a wheelchair and to try to wheel themselves back and forth

from the podium.

“You can’t know what it’s like to be disabled in that way, or to have

someone look at you like you’re crazy because you’re having a bipolar

attack and you’re talking too fast but can’t do anything about it,” he

said.

HARVEY ALEXANDER COCHRAN

AGE: 35

OCCUPATION: Inventory control manager at Allied Lighting Co. in Costa

Mesa

FAMILY: None

EDUCATION: Received a journeyman degree in food service management

from Community Rehabilitation Industries of Long Beach; has been taking

leadership classes and seminars at Landmark Education Centers since 1997

COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES: Vice president of the Beechwood Chapter of the

Californians for Disability Rights and Advocacy