BY MILES LAYTON
A round-up of all things Perquimans County…
Column discusses a promotion at Hertford Town Hall, a social media post about water quality, the county budget, Principal John Lassiter and more.
After talking to District Court Judge Meader Harriss, I was moved to do rounds after a bike ride through Hertford. Harriss is doing well these days.
First, Doris Walton was officially promoted to Hertford Town Manager. Prior to stepping into the town manager’s shoes, Walton had been serving as assistant town manager when in November, she was promoted to interim town manager after Town Manager Janice Cole retired. Congrats!
“Serving as Interim Town Manager over the past six months has been a rewarding and humbling experience. I am truly honored to now take on the role of Town Manager officially and continue working alongside our incredible town team, council members, and the entire Hertford community to help our town grow and thrive.”
In other news, after seeing something posted near and far on social media about parasites from human waste being dumped on the ground affecting the water supply in one small part of the county, I figured I’d better call the Perquimans County Water Department. That Facebook post got more than a bit of attention, even from folks who don’t scroll through social media at 2 a.m.
Of course, that post turned out to be BS, as are most things posted on social media or published by the mainstream media these days.
“Perquimans County’s drinking water is regularly tested for a wide range of parameters, including bacteria, and we meet all applicable regulations. We are unaware of any contaminants,” Nick Lolies, supervisor of the Perquimans County Water Department.
Sat down with County Manager Frank Heath and Assistant County Manager Brandon Shoaf – they said that though the annual budget is still being prepared for the Commission’s review in June, things are looking good regarding a fiscally responsible budget. More on that in a future story when Heath’s budget message is released to the Commission.
According to the latest US Census figures, Perquimans County’s population has grown. As of July 1, 2024, the estimated population of Perquimans County is 13,460 — up from 13,377 on July 1, 2023. I suspect the county’s population is higher based on new housing starts and other elements – a new school being built that is sure to attract people to area. Also, as people have discovered, life in big cities in nearby Virginia can be expensive, crime ridden and traffic clogged, so they’ve voted with their feet to relocate to places in Northeast NC like Hertford.
In other news, though Hertford Grammar School Principal John Lassiter was named a 2025 Wells Fargo Principal of the Year finalist for the Northeast Region, a principal from Orange County got the nod during the recent award ceremony in Cary.
Though I think John is deserving, he’s a young guy who is sure to get this award in the future, maybe even become a superintendent someday.
Perquimans Pirates’ Class of 2005, Lassiter graduated from NC State in 2009 and began his teaching career at John A. Holmes High School, later serving as Principal at Chowan Middle School. During Lassiter’s three years at CMS, the school was redesignated a National “School to Watch”, one of just 11 middle schools in the state to earn the recognition.
When Perquimans Schools came calling, Lassiter was hired as Principal at Hertford Grammar. He was named Principal of the Year three times (2021, 2023, & 2025) by the school system and was named a Wells Fargo Regional Finalist for State Principal of the Year in 2023.
Perquimans High School will hold its graduation at 7 p.m. Friday, May 30. The ceremony is set to take place on the school’s football field.
Lastly, I talked to Ashley Eure, Finance Director for the Town of Hertford. A long time ago, she was the ad director for the Chowan Herald. We talked about the glory days of strong page counts, positive ad revenue and community news, but how times have changed for the worse for local news outlets with few ads, small page counts and filled with last week’s news today.
In contrast, the Albemarle Observer is quickly becoming the premier news outlet for Northeast NC. Thanks to our dedicated and growing group of readers, we have several thousands of page views each month.
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