Volume 34, No. 20
Hertford, Perquimans County, N.C., Thursday, May 18, 1971
15 CENTS
By KATHY M. NEWBERN
News Editor
HERTFORD - A decision by
Hertford Police Chief Marshall Mer
ritt to resign following the outcome
of a hearing involving another of
ficer has baen reversed.
Officer James R. Logan requested
a hearing before the Town Council
after he was suspended without pay
by Chief Merritt. The rules and
regulations of the department, as
adopted by the Town Council, allows
a suspended officer the right to call
A for such a hearing.
9 That hearing was held May 11 in a
special called meeting of the Hert
ford Town Council and was held in
executive session. Both Officer
Logan and - Chief Merritt were
represented by counsel.
? When askea tor details concerning
the charges originally brought
against Officer Logan and discussed
at the hearing, Hertford Mayor Bill
Cox replied, "'I've been advised by
counsel that at this time, the charges
are not availble for print" Cox fur
ther explained that the action con
cerned a personnel matter and that
the hearing was held in closed
session.
However, the outcome of the hear
ing was announced and Cox said,
"We heard the evidence presented,
heard the arguments, and the Coun
cil made the decision that according
to the evidence presented at the
hearing; that Officer Logan be
reinstated with one provision ? that
he be put on probation for 12 months
following the date of the hearing."
When the Town Council's decision
was reached Thursday night, the
result was the resignations of Chief
Marshall Merritt and Officer M.G.
Harrington. Both of these resigna
tions were presented in written form
on Friday morning. However, the
Town Council has not taken action
on either resignation.
Concerning his decision to resign,
Officer Harrington gave no com
ment as to his reason but added that
his decision was final. When ques
tioned as to the reason for the
resignation, Mayor Cox said, "The
reasons for Officer Harrington's
resignation are personal reasons
and I don't feel I can comment on
it." Chief Marshall Merritt also
turned in his resignation Friday
morning, but reconsidered and
made the following comment, "I
tendered my resignation Friday,
May 12 in a disagreement with the
Town Council over their refusal to
uphold my suspension of Patrolman
J.R. Logan. This suspension was
based on several incidents which I
felt were detrimental to the smooth
running of our department and the
high standards which I have set for
our police force."
"In subsequent discussions with
Council members in which we each
had the opportunity to explain the
reasons for our actions, I realized
again that we all had the same goal
? that of making Hertford Police
Department the best possible. Our
only difference lay in how to achieve
this goal."
Merritt continued, "I appreciate
the expressions of continued support
from every individual Council
member and the Mayor as well as
from the many local citizens who
have contacted me urging me to
reconsider my decision."
"After having given this matter
much thought, I have decided to
withdraw my resignation. I feel we
have all learned much during the
past few days and that we will be
able to work together in a joint effort
to provide the people of Hertford the
best law enforcement program
possible," Merritt concluded.
Hertford Mayor Cox made Up
following reaction statement, "rqi
real pleased that Chief Merritt h*t
withdrawn his resignation, fui.
again that I'm real pleased with his
performance as Chief of PoUce over
the last 12 months. He's done an ex
cellent job. The police department is
certainly a better department due to
his efforts. I feel very strongly that
with this incident behind us and by a
better understanding, our police
department cannot help but continue
to improve and be a department we
can be proud of."
.Parents voice complaints on education
By KATHY M. NEWBERN
Several grievances were aired by
a group of about 15 concerned
parents. when the Perquimans Coun
ty Board of Education met in
regular session Monday night.
Leading the group was Mrs. Steve
Perry who presented several com
plaints including the lack of coopera
tion by school officials in letting her
view work done by her son. She also
expressed a feeling that a lack of
communication exists between
teachers and parents. She said,
"There is very definitely a
breakdown between parents and
school. Parents are very much shut
out."
At one point, Mrs. Perry said,
"I'm a good honest mad." And she
added, "I don't know if I'm going to
be madder if they pass him or mad
der if they fail him (her son). He's
not failing material but he's not
competent to go ahead."
Several other parents present
agreed with Mrs. Perry's statement,
"I'm not up here fighting for my kid
tonight. I'm fighting for those to
come."
She also voiced opposition to
teachers experimenting with
grading and grouping of students.
She commented, "You're shaming
those in the lower groups so they
don't want to do any better."
Mrs. Perry closed her comments
by saying, "I for one resent it when
I'm told my child is getting the best
education in the history of this coun
try." She also called for a
cooperative effort by school person
nel and parents to "make things
better."
Other parents also spoke out. Clif
ford "Pete" Perry, a parent attend
ing the meeting, said, "My daughter
today doesn't know how to read and I
blame you gentlemen for it."
Another parent, Mrs. Joan
Mansfield, expressed disasatisfac
tion among parents at the abolition
of PTA's explaining that some felt
the organizations had been
"sabatoged" since no one could ex
plain why meetings had ceased
despite good attendance by parents.
In response to that statement,
Board Chairman Clifford Winslow
Carlton discusses state 's
efforts to reduce crime
NAGS HEAD - From July
through October, citizens in North
Carolina will have the opportunity to
speak out on laws the/ feel are
needed in the state.
That news came from J. Phil
Carlton, Secretary of the N.C.
Department of Crime Control and
Public Safety, when he addressed
the spring dinner meeting of the
Albemarle Law and Order Associa
tion held here Friday night.
Guest speaker Carlton explained
that beginning in July and starting
in Charlotte, his department would
be scheduling public hearings all
across the state for citizen input in
law-making. One such hearing will
be held in each judicial district.
Concerning the outcome of such
hearings, Carlton said, "Then we're
going to prepare from them, the
legislative packet to present to the
General Assembly."
In his remarks, Carlton outlined
the three main areas he sees as
needing work in order to minimize
and control crime in North Carolina.
First, he said, there is a need to
"continue to beef up law enforce
ment." Here, he emphasized the
need to continue to provide adequate
manpower, training, and equipment
for law enforcement officers.
Secondly he called for a reduction
in juvenile delinquency. Carlton
cited several statistics in support of
this statement. He explained that of
the 35,000 arrests reported to the
police information network in the
state during 1977, 57 percent of those
involved persons 29 years of age and
younger. And 28 percent were 21
years of age and younger. Carlton
further explained that historically,
the most severe sentences have been
given to those with records while
nis laaress
neeting of
Order AttoeU
by Kathy M.
young people have been treated with
leniency and compassk*. But, 80
percent those commfttut crime
in the state have less than tnn? jtf
fenses on their record, Carlton ipd.
He added, "The old notion (feat
we've had of rehabilitation is not
necessarily consistent with crime
control."
The third area Carlton discussed
was the effectiveness and need for
expanding community crime watch
programs. He appealed to the au
dience to support such programs
and emphasized the need for a watch
program in each community in the
state.
Along the same lines, Secretary
Carlton added, "We are asking
every county in North Carolina to
form a community task force to sit
in general courts and see what type
of crime occurs in that community."
He said such programs would "get
people to understand what kind of
crime takes plae* in North
Carolina."
In discussing law enforcement in
general, Carlton said, "Crime is a
very sophisticated business today
and the truth is, law enforcement is
always a step behind. We have to
play catch up."
Carlton then re-emphasized his
belief in public cooperation to
reduce crime and dosed by saying,
"Together, we can develop a pro
gram to reduce crime to a great
extent."
Prior to the speaker's remarks,
the association held a brief business
session.
Kelvin E. BunA Director of the
Albemarle Law aqffirder Associa
tion, presented an financial
said, "This Board certainly en
courages PTA activities. We can't
mandate any school to form a PTA.
If we could, we would. We can en
courage and we've done this. But
that has to come from you, as
parents, working with principals
and teachers."
Concerning the right for a parent
to view his or her child's school
work, Superintendent Pat Harrell
explained that teachers have been
asked to maintaim a file at school
and that file is open to parents. He
added that there is no policy which
says parents must go to school to
view such files and in the past
papers have been sent home with
students.
Discussion then turned to accoun
tability of teachers. Mrs. Becky
Perry, a parent, said, "I feel that we
need to evaluate the teacher first of
all. Do they really know what they
are teaching? Are they teaching in
their field or are they there just to
draw the salary?" Several other
V parents agreed with the need to keep
qualified teachers and "get rid of the
unqualified "
Following all comments from the
parents present, Winslow said, "It's
only through meetings likenthis that
we as a Board can know these
details that some of you have
pointed out. I would encourage you
to let us know when there are things
in the school system you don't
understand." He closed by saying,
"We'll certainly take these com
ments under advisement."
Following comments from the
narent group, the Board took action
to several matters.
The Board authorized Harrell to
draw up a policy for action at the
next meeting regarding employee
payment of hospitalization during
summer months.
Teacher allocations for 1978-79
were discussed and it was revealed
that the local system will lose from
six to eight positions.
A motion to approve a $256,195
budget for next year's Title I pro
gram passed. This is comparable to
last year's program budget.
Also approved was the proposed
summer migrant program which
will work with about 80 students in
the areas of math, reading,
language arts, music, and physical
education June 28 through Aug. 1.
la other action, the Board
awarded the audit contract to R.E.
Aiden Jr., CPA of Elizabeth City. It
was also announced that bids on the
PCHS field house project would be
opened at 3p.m. on May 23. ^
The board heard several staflH
reports in such areas as budget, cfir
struction and renovation at the high
school, annual testing results,
career center project, and the
traakfast program.
Before adjourning, the Board went
into executive session on a personnel
?atter. 7
OFF MONTH WORK ? Travelways
on much of the Bear Swamp main
channel have been smoothed and
seeded during April and May since
biologists agreed that excavation
during those months would have
been detrimental to wildlife there.
Construction to
resume June 1
Construction will resume June 1
on the Bear Swamp Watershed. A
provision in the original contract
provided that no excavation would
be done in the channels in the
months of April and May. Wildlife
biologists felt that excavation during
this time would have been detrimen
tal to herring and other fish which
use Bear Swamp canal as a spawn
ing area during these months. While
the channels could not be excavated,
other items such as smoothing and
seeding right-of-ways and installing
private road crossings have been
done. Sixty to 70 percent of the pro
ject has been completed.
Wmen properly construcoed and
maintained, the Bear Swamp Water
shed project should provide ade
quate drainage for cropland in the
watershed for many years.
GRAND OWCNING - Participating
in Tuesday marking's ribbon catting
ceremony at Nectar's Restaurant
were: (L to r.) Nan Reynolds and
Mary Sue Roach of the Perquimans
County Chamber of Commerce,
Mayor Bill Cox, Rick Gardner,
Chamber president Douglas
Layden, and Commissioner Joe
NowriL (Staff photo by Ray Ward)
Opens on schedule despite break-in
Nectar's
UK
Merritt in turn arrested the two
other youths, located on foot about
900 yards south of Nectar's. They
were identified as Clifford C.
Fenstermared, 16, and Anthony
Joseph Lopreste, 16, both of the
same Hamsburg, Pa. address.
The three allegedly broke into the
yet-to-be opened facility through a
arive-in winaow im crivwa insiae
According to ffcttf Merritt, there
were d6 other taifei and all that
was taken wtfr* two Sprite drinks
and one Orifc, each the large sixe.
Merritt saM the three explained that
they were thirsty and had no money.
Each was booked on charges el
breaking and entering and larceny.
Each offense is a felony and max-'
imum would be a 10-year sentence,
five years on each count.
^Magiftnte ?.T. Dail set bond for
each at $2,000 and they were taken to
Trt-Couoty Jafl. They refusod to call
pre- mature
open oi
a ribbon
the broken
' A
anyone.
Following the marly
opening, Nectar*! did
to Tueeday in