By Steve Huffman
Salisbury Post
RALEIGH ó Salisbury Mayor Susan Kluttz spoke Tuesday to a House Judiciary Committee regarding a Street Gang Prevention Act making its way through the legislature.
Kluttz was one of two North Carolina mayors to address committee members, the other being Durham’s Bill Bell.
“The response was positive,” Kluttz said of her address, noting that several legislators stopped her to speak as she exited the Legislative Building where the address was given.
She said North Carolina is one of only a handful of states that haven’t already enacted such legislation, and said it’s hard to over-emphasize its importance.
Kluttz said anti-gang legislation would send a message to both gang members and those who recruit for gangs that they’re not welcome in North Carolina.
“We’re saying, ‘This is wrong,’ ” Kluttz said.
She said she’ll also participate this morning in a news conference in Raleigh where members of the N.C. Metropolitan Coalition’s executive committee are urging passage of the anti-gang legislation.
That news conference is being held in the state Legislative Office Building.
Kluttz said the bill will be considered Thursday by members of the House Judiciary Committee. If passed there, it will move to the House and Senate for consideration before becoming law.
Kluttz said urgency is critical in the bill’s consideration since there is concern among legislators that if it stalls, its passage could be delayed another year.
“It keeps getting watered down,” Kluttz said of the bill. “That’s not something we want.”
She said she spoke Tuesday to state Rep. Mickey Michaux (D-Durham) the sponsor of the Street Gang Prevention Act. “He seems confident it will pass,” Kluttz said.
Proponents said the Act ó represented by House Bill 274 and Senate Bill 1358 ó would accomplish four things:
– For the first time, it will define a “criminal street gang” and “criminal gang activity” in North Carolina’s general statutes.
– It would provide increased punishments for crimes committed while conducting gang behaviors.
– It would make it illegal to be a gang leader and criminalizes threats to a person or that person’s family for leaving a gang.
– It would allot funds for gang prevention and intervention programs.
“The mayors feel very strongly about this,” Kluttz said Tuesday while returning from Raleigh. “They’re seeing gang-related problems in their communities.”
Kluttz referred to a Thursday-night gang forum held earlier this year in Salisbury where more than 500 people turned out to discuss the problem.
“That’s sending a strong message to me that I need to do all I can to influence the legislature,” Kluttz said.
Contact Steve Huffman at 704-797-4222 or shuffman@salisburypost.com.