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'pZSnS COUNTY UBRARY
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. WEEKLY
Pets of the Week, 7
"News from Next Door"
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2018
75 cents
Election
change
facing
a fight
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Any effort to change the
system by which Perqui
mans County elects mem
bers of the county com
mission that hurts minority
voters will be met with a
challenge, said Joe Hoffler,
one of the members of the
board.
HOFFLER
C o m -
missioner
Kyle Jones
floated the
idea at are-
cent board
retreat.
While he
laid out
potential
pitfalls, he
called the current system
“absurdly-convoluted” and
outdated and a change is
needed.
The current system calls
for three commissioners to
be elected every two years.
Voters however get to cast a
ballot for just one of them.
Only one other county in the
state has a system similar to
the one in Perquimans.
Jones suggested a mix of
at-large voting and voting by
districts.
Hoffler is dead set against
Historic home gets new owner
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Cliff Miller wasn’t looking for an
other house.
Yet now he and his wife Pat own
one of oldest ones in the Town of
Hertford.
He and his wife Pat bought a home
in Elizabeth City about three years
ago and moved down from Virginia.
Then the real estate agent called last
year.
“The told us she had this listing
and it was really cool and I thought
what the heck,” Miller said. “We
weren’t really interested but we saw
it and we fell in love with it.”
“When we looked at it, we agreed
the change because of the it’s too nice a house not to bring it
impact it could have on mi
nority voters.
“It (the current system)
works for us, the citizens
of Perquimans County. I’m
not going to stand by and
the NAACP is not going to
stand by watching us go
backwards.”
Before the current plan
was adopted in 1993, blacks
and women weren’t being
elected to the commission.
Now the board consists of
four white men, one Black
woman and one Black male,
Hoffler. From a political
standpoint, there are three
who are Democrats, two
Republicans and one unaf
filiated.
“He (Jones) could be just
testing the waters to see if
there would be any opposi
tion, and I’m saying there
will be opposition,” Hoffler
said.
Before 2013, the county
would have to seek “pre
clearance” from the Jus
tice Department to make
a change. But that year the
Supreme struck down that
key provision of the Voting
Rights Act by a 5-4 vote.
But Hoffler said just be
cause the Justice Depart
ment won’t block a change
on the front end, a citizen
can still challenge any
change and it could still be
blocked by a federal court.
“Not having to get per-
See ELECTION, 2
back to the way it should look,” Mill
er said.
They are now the owners of the
Isaac Hall House at 200 W. Market St.
Depending where you look, it was
built in 1818 or 1819. Either way, it’s
a lot older than their Elizabeth City
home which was built in 2006.
Miller, 60, is retired now, but he’s
never been into buying very old
homes. When he was a boy his par
ents bought a farmhouse that was
built in the late 1800s in central Vir
ginia.
Miller said from what he has
learned the oldest house in the town
was built in 1775. There is another
built in 1785. The oldest surviving
house in the county is the Newbold
See HOUSE, 2
Top, restoration
is under way
on the Isaac
Hall House on
West Market
Street. Middle,
a painter scraps
off the siding
of the Isaac
Hall House on
Market Street.
Bottom, Cliff
Miller stands
inside one of
the downtown
rooms in his
new house.
STAFF PHOTOS BY
PETER WILLIAMS
Agency
may be
moving
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
After 40 years in Hertford,
the Albemarle Commission
is considering moving out
side the county, perhaps to
Elizabeth City.
That was not what Ex
ecutive Director Cathy Da
vison wanted. Last summer
the commission announced
it wanted to build a new
building in Hertford and
Perquimans County agreed
to give it land on Harvey
Point Road for the building.
But before they could
build, the Commission want
ed the 10 counties in the re
gion to agree to pay the debt
of building something new.
Pasquotank County balked
and since it represents the
largest of the 10 counties
and pays the most of the lo
cal governments, Davison
and her board went back to
the drawing board.
The Commission is a re
gional planning, adult nutri
tion and workforce agency
for Camden, Chowan, Cur
rituck, Dare, Gates, Hyde,
Pasquotank, Perquimans,
Tyrrell and Washington
counties.
Now the Commission
board has directed Davison
to look into leasing another
building elsewhere.
“The board had a long
conversation and the board
voted, but I can’t sign a lease
without their approval.”
She’s just exploring the
options.
Davison said the Commis
sion has simply outgrown
the space it has off Church
Street and the board direct
ed her to research leasing
space in another area. Da
vison said the move could
take place in the next year.
Davison said the commis
sion was looking to build a
structure of about 17,000
square feet. The current
building has about 10,000
square feet.
Elizabeth City is the obvi
ous choice, she said. Davi
son said there isn’t anything
in Hertford big enough to
house the agency. The old
State Employees Credit
Union in Hertford was con
sidered, but it’s actually
smaller than what the Com
mission has now.
“It (Elizabeth City) is a
commercial hub and there
are not a lot of offerings in
Perquimans County,” she
said.
Perquimans County Man
ager Frank Heath said he
and his board want to do
what they can to keep the
Commission in the county.
“If they decided to stay
See AGENCY, 2
Timing of replacing police car dash cameras debated
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Hertford councilmen
agreed Monday they need
to replace the dash cameras
in police patrol cars but the
question was how quickly
can they do it.
The arrest of Councilman
Quentin Jackson in Febru-
6 89076 47144 2
ary brought to light the fact
that the old cameras were
defective and had been
since 2017. That fact came
out in an internal investiga
tion after the arrest.
At their meeting Monday
night, Hertford Town Man
ager Brandon Shoaf said
then Chief Douglas Free
man was aware of the faulty
patrol car cameras, but in
light of a lack of funding,
he had officers rely on their
body cameras for the time
being.
“In his (Freeman’s) de ¬
fense, it was a budget issue,”
Shoaf said.
The problem in the Jack-
son case is the officer didn’t
turn his on or didn’t wear it
that day. Jackson was found
guilty of resisting and offi
cer in the case from Feb. 1,
but he is appealing the case
to Superior Court.
Jackson has been critical
of the town’s police depart
ment and Monday night
was critical of Shoaf as well
since he oversees the police
department.
“We can’t say we have a
good (police) department,”
Jackson said. He pointed
out that while there may
have been a budget issue,
the fact the cameras were
broken wasn’t brought to
the town board.
Shoaf said replacement
car cameras cost between
$3,000 to $9,000 each but
some state grant money is
available that provides a
50/50 match. He’s still look
ing for a third company to
bid on the contract.
See CAMERAS, 2
Town conducts survey
on broadcasting meetings
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
The Town of Hertford
is conducting a survey
to gauge the interest in
broadcasting town meet
ings on either the Internet
or a local access cable TV
channel.
Councilman Quentin
Jackson brought up the
issue at a meeting earlier
this year.
Some local govern
ments do provide video
of their meetings. The
Perquimans County Com
mission does not, nor
does Winfall.
See SURVEY, 2