A public hearing meant to gauge public opinion regarding a petition received from Candice Cash in favor of a youth curfew in Henderson led to the Henderson City Council forming a study committee on the issue at last night’s meeting.
The first to speak on the issue was the Revernend C.J. Dale. Dale claimed that the Henderson Police Department would be wasting its time dealing with young people instead of fighting “real crime”. He also said that other neighborhoods have bigger problems with youth.
Dale suggested that a youth center be built. He said that other cities have a youth center. The Reverend claimed that there is nothing else for kids to do.
Dale claimed that there is a difference for what is tolerated in different neighborhoods.
“There’s no real gang here,” Dale told the council. “There’s some wanna-bes here.”
Dale also told the council that a youth curfew would “affect the African-American race more than any other race”.
Candice Cash, the prime mover behind the curfew issue, rebutted that she was irritated that people say that [the curfew] is going to hurt kids. She said that the curfew is to help all youth.
Nancy Bell, a Coble Boulevard area resident, told the council that she appreciated Cash’s coming forward and letting the council know how residents of the area feel. She said that children should be home with parents, and that she should not have to put up what she has to put up with.
Bell told an anecdote of an African-American neighbor who was experiencing the same issues with unruly youth in the area. She expressed the opinion that parents need to take responsibility for their children and that the curfew was the only way to get the problem under control.
School Board member Margaret Ellis told the council that she has discussed the issue of the curfew in other venues, and that when the Police Department was queried, the response was that a curfew for young people would not work.
Ellis expressed a difference of opinion with Dale regarding the existence of gangs in Henderson.
The School Board member opined that a curfew needs to be exercised on all-night businesses, and that the city needs to find a way to hire additional police. She also said that other communities need to be looked at.
Sherwood Road resident Peggy Jones told the council that she has lived on that street for 25 years, and has spent half of that time asking for help.
Rebutting Dale, Jones said that she does not call the police every time something happens. She said she called when 25 youths were fighting by her house, and she was told that if they were moving that nothing could be done.
Jones said that she had been threatened and told to go back into her house.
“We don’t say there are too many drug dealers for the police to round up,” Jones said, responding to the claim that enforcement of a curfew would be onerous on the police.
Pastor Frank Sossamon told the council that the curfew debate is complicated, and needs research, dialogue, and thought. To that end, he recommended that the City Council appoint a study commission to look at the issue. He also recommended that that the laws that are already on the books, such as trespassing and loitering, be enforced while the curfew is studied.
Council member Lynn Harper asked Cash how many signatures she had acquired. Cash responded that she had almost 600, but she had stopped after three days. Cash also confirmed that the signatures were from all areas from the city and represented the city’s ethnic demographics.
Council member Bobby Gupton, who has championed the cause of Coble Boulevard residents in the past, urged the council to take action.
Mary Emma Evans, who has in the past been skeptical regarding the issue of a youth curfew, suggested following Sossamon’s suggesting regarding the forming of a committee. She did, however, state that she was reluctant to enact a curfew because of people walking up and down the street.
Evans cited a report from Acting Police Chief Tony Clark stating that juvenile crime is the lowest recorded crime activity. She said that she was not against a curfew, but that she wanted to “do it right”.
Cash stated to the council that she wanted to know why it was so scared to do something positive.
Henderson Mayor Clem Seifert responded that the council could not arbitrarily pass a law without knowing the consequences. He asked rhetorically where detained youths would be housed. He said that there are a lot of things that need to be looked at.
Seifert expressed a desire to speak with the North Carolina Institute of Government regarding forming a citizen committee and to come back with a proposal at the November 6 meeting.
Gupton responded that the proposed ordinance is a matter of record. He argued that it was not about riding around looking for kids, but rather when an officer sees a kid on the street finding out what’s going on.
Gupton called the ordinance a “tool” to use to get the kid off of the street.
He further stated that the rights of homeowners should be respected, and that he felt strongly that the council was not doing what it was supposed to do.
Dale stated from the audience that if it was a question of signatures, he could flood the council with signatures. He pleaded with the council to study the issue. He said once again that the curfew would affect African-American youth more than Caucasians.
Cash stated that she was irritated that the curfew was being made a racial issue.
After further discussion, Evans introduced a motion that Sossamon and Council member Lonnie Davis be appointed co-chairs of a committee to examine the curfew issue. After further debate, the motion was modified at Harper’s suggestion so that Cash was included as a co-chair, and a deadline of December 4 was set for the committee to either bring an ordinance to the council or to recommend against a youth curfew. The co-chairs will select four additional members, one from each ward of the city.
It was noted by Seifert that Sossamon is not a resident of Henderson. However, no one objected to his serving on the committee.
A great deal of rancor amongst the council was expressed during this part of the discussion. At one point, Evans told Cash, “Crime is not the problem in Henderson; it’s the City Council.”
Harper disagreed with Evans’ statement.
Davis told the council that he felt obsolete, as the purpose of the public hearing was to gather information for the Public Safety Committee. He said that if that had been done, the discussion would have ended 30-40 minutes earlier.
The motion to form the committee passed five to two, with Council members Elissa Yount and Bobby Gupton voting against the motion. Council member Bernard Alston was absent from the council session.