Gov. Perdue Names Members to StreetSafe Task Force
Gov. Bev Perdue today named 34 members to the StreetSafe Task Force. Attorney General Roy Cooper and Department of Correction Secretary Alvin Keller will serve as co-chairs. Secretaries Linda Hayes and Lanier Cansler also will serve on the task force.
StreetSafe will bring together faith-based organizations, non-profits, local and state government agencies, business leaders and members of the community to develop a plan to combat recidivism and reintegrate offenders safely into the community.“By uniting the efforts of government, business and civic organizations, this task force will work to stop ex-offenders from committing new crimes,” Perdue said. “StreetSafe will give ex-offenders the support they need to successfully reenter society, which will make North Carolina safer for everyone.”
“Law enforcement officers too often see criminals they’ve arrested and convicted go right back to their old ways as soon as they get out of prison,” Cooper said. “Stopping criminals from repeating their crimes will make all of us safer.”
“With more than 28,000 offenders being released from our prisons each year, we need to do everything possible to help those people succeed and to keep them from coming back,” said Secretary Keller. “StreetSafe will be a key part of that effort.”
In May, Governor Perdue signed Executive Order No. 12 creating the StreetSafe Task Force. The governor made the announcement at Step Up Ministries, a program that works with ex-offenders.
Below is a list of members:
• Attorney General Roy Cooper – Cooper is co-chair of the task force. The state’s top law enforcement officer, he heads the NC Department of Justice which includes the State Bureau of Investigation. Before becoming attorney general, he practiced law and served in the legislature where he helped author the Crime Victims Bill of Rights.
• Secretary Alvin Keller, Department of Correction – Secretary Keller is co-chair of the task force. He was appointed secretary in 2009. He has more than 30 years of military, judicial and government experience. He served as Assistant Attorney General in the Criminal Division of the North Carolina Department of Justice.
• Secretary Linda Hayes, Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention – Secretary Hayes was appointed secretary in 2009. For the past 15 years, she served as chair of the Governor’s Crime Commission.
• Secretary Lanier Cansler, Department of Health and Human Services – Secretary Cansler has renewed DHHS’ commitment to enhance public confidence in the agency’s ability to successfully meet the challenges and address the needs of North Carolina citizens. He also served in the N.C. House of Representatives, where he served on numerous health care committees.
• Al Delia – Delia is the Governor’s policy director. Prior to his role in the Perdue administration, he served as president and CEO of North Carolina’s Eastern Region Development Commission, where he oversaw plans for business recruitment, retention, expansion and creation for a 13-county region.
• John Smith – Judge Smith is director of the N.C. Administrative Office of the Courts and was named a special superior court judge in 2005. He also served as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army.
• Moses Cary Jr. – Carey is chairman of the Employment Security Commission of North Carolina. He worked in local and state departments of health in Florida and served as executive director of Piedmont Health Services for 18 years until he retired.
• Thomas Maher – Maher is executive director of the N.C. Office of Indigent Defense where he oversees the supervision and funding of public defenders and privately assigned counsel providing legal representation to indigent citizens in North Carolina.
• Roger Shackleford – Shackleford is the executive director of Workforce Development. He supervises the Commission on Workforce Development, which is responsible for oversight, policy development and the planning of the workforce development system in North Carolina. Shackleford has more than 24 years of experience in workforce development.
• Mike Robertson – Robertson is commissioner of the Division of Motor Vehicles and has served 40 years as a law enforcement officer. He also is past assistant director of the State Bureau of Investigation and the past director of the Alcohol Law Enforcement Division.
• The Honorable Scott Thomas – Thomas is a district attorney and current chair of the Governor’s Crime Commission. He also has served as a state senator and was chair of the Justice and Public Safety Appropriations Subcommittee and vice-chair of the Judiciary Committee.
• Erskine Bowles – Bowles has been president of the UNC system since 2005. He also served as chief of staff for Pres. Bill Clinton.
• Dr. Scott Ralls – Ralls is president of the N.C. Community College System. Prior to this position, Ralls was the president of Craven Community College.
• Thomas Bennett – Bennett is the executive director of the N.C. Victim Assistance Network, a nonprofit that promotes the rights and needs of crime victims. He also was executive director of the N.C. Association of County Directors of Social Services.
• Leslie Winner – Winner is the executive director of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation. She is past vice president and general counsel to UNC. Winner also served in the N.C. Senate from 1993-98.
• Larry Dail – Dail is the correctional administrator at Craven Correctional Institution, which also is a diagnostic center where new inmates are evaluated medically, physically and mentally to determine which prison is appropriate for their incarceration.
• James Langston – Langston is the superintendent of the Wake Correctional Center, a minimum security prison. He is the previous assistant superintendent at Wake Correctional Center.
• Tracy Royster – Royster is the judicial district manager in Cleveland and Lincoln counties. She also has served as a probation officer and chief probation/parole officer.
• Donald Pinchback – Pinchback is the chief juvenile court justice counselor in Durham County from the N.C. Department of Juvenile Justice and Prevention. He also has worked in the court district for Caswell, Person and Wake counties.
• Eugene Ellison – Ellison is an attorney at his law firm, the Law Office of Eugene W. Ellison, which he opened in 1984. He also is a member of the N.C. Bar Association and the N.C. Central University Law Alumni Board of Directors.
• Benjamin David – David is district attorney for the Fifth Judicial District. He also is the founding member of the Blue Ribbon Commission to End Youth Violence.
• The Honorable Craig Croom – Judge Croom is a Wake County district court judge. He also volunteers with Capital Area Teen Court, and he spends time speaking with young people in schools and churches throughout Wake County.
• The Honorable Yvonne Evans – Evans has been the Mecklenburg County superior judge since 2003. Prior to 2003, she was a county district judge for 10 years.
• Terry Bellamy – Bellamy has been the mayor of Asheville since 2005. She is the youngest mayor in North Carolina and the first African-American to serve as mayor in Asheville.
• Delores Jennings – Jennings has worked in human services, where she has provided case management and evaluation services to clients who are dual-diagnosed, mentally ill or impaired by low socio-economic status, homelessness and/or substance abuse.
• Alan Glenn Cloninger – Cloninger is sheriff and jail administrator of Gaston County Sherriff Office, where he oversees the operations of the Gaston County jail, courthouse, jail annex, road division and administration.
• Jose Lopez – Lopez is Durham’s police chief. He also served in the U.S. Air Force as a law enforcement specialist.
• Nancy Murray – Murray is the board chair and executive director of Builders of Hope, an organization that rescues properties, rebuilds them and sells them at affordable prices to families and individuals who earn less than the median income.
• Dr. Greg Moss Sr. – Moss has been the pastor of Saint Paul Missionary Baptist Church since 1998. He also is the president of the General Baptist State Convention of North Carolina.
• Jimmie Hughes – Hughes is the vice president of human resources/safety for Barnhill Contracting Company. He has worked in human resources for 30 years.
• Myra Clark – Clark is the executive director of the Center for Community Transitions, Inc., which helps offenders with employment and transitions services. She has helped lead the center for 21 years.
• Joseph Martinez – Martinez is the executive director of FIRST at Blue Ridge Inc., which is an 85 bed substance abuse treatment and vocational training center for men. He also was the multi-cultural coordinator for the Mecklenburg County Health Department, where he assisted projects such as “Fighting Back,” the department’s drug prevention and gang violent program in minority communities.
• Sonya Brown – Brown is the team leader of the Justice Systems Innovations team for the Division on Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services, N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. She also served on the Council of State Governments Reentry Policy Council.
• Dr. Michael Blackwell – Blackwell is the president of the Baptist Children’s Homes of North Carolina, the largest children’s home network in the southeast. He also is a fellow of the N.C. Institute of Political Leadership and has written four books.
• Linda Davis – Davis is a community activist, focusing on homelessness and prison reform. She also volunteers on a variety of local and state boards and committees, including the Methodist Home for Children and the Second Chance Alliance
