Mayor touts candidates’ Salisbury connections
By Mark Wineka
Salisbury Post
Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory’s entrance into the Republican gubernatorial race Tuesday creates an awkward situation for Salisbury Mayor Susan Kluttz.
Kluttz and her husband, Bill, a District Court judge, are friends with Salisbury attorney Bill Graham, who also seeks the GOP nomination for governor.
Kluttz said Bill and Shari Graham have made great contributions to Salisbury for many years.
Likewise, Kluttz has worked closely with McCrory over the past decade, mostly through the N.C. Metropolitan Coalition, which tries to bring issues affecting cities to the attention of state government.
“I have shared a lot of his frustrations with state government,” Kluttz said.
Complicating matters for Kluttz is that she personally is a registered Democrat, though her position as Salisbury mayor is non-partisan.
Kluttz was clear Tuesday that she would not be endorsing either Graham or McCrory, but she said it was impressive that both men, each with strong Salisbury connections, were running for governor.
Graham and McCrory are Catawba College graduates, and they presently serve on the college’s board of trustees. Add in that U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., grew up in Salisbury and still has a home here, and “you have to admit Salisbury is pretty incredible,” Kluttz said.
“What does that tell you about our little city?”
McCrory mentioned Kluttz’s name in his announcement speech Tuesday afternoon in his hometown of Jamestown.
It was in connection with their mutual concerns about gangs and how neither wants to be placed in the position of giving eulogies at the funerals of young victims, such as Salisbury’s Treasure Feamster, who was shot and killed last March.
McCrory also mentioned Salisbury several times as having an influence on his life because of his college days at Catawba College.
Kluttz said she has deep respect for McCrory and believes they share passions on issues such as gangs, transportation and the environment. He has shown his expertise on those kinds of issues at the state and national levels, Kluttz said.
She credited McCrory as being the force behind establishing the N.C. Metropolitan Coalition, whose mayors represent some 2.5 million people.
“He understands that the future of the states is cities,” she added.
Kluttz said McCrory can be impatient, “only because he wants things to be right and done quickly.”
Contact Mark Wineka at 704-797-4263 or mwineka@salisburypost.com.