WINTON – In with the old and in with the new.

Veteran Hertford County Commissioner DuPont Davis was sworn in to his fifth term in office here Monday where the county’s governing board held their regularly scheduled first of the month meeting in front of a standing room only crowd.

Meanwhile, a pair of newly elected Commissioners were sworn in to serve their maiden, four-year voyages as Hertford County’s leaders – one that is now an all-male group for the first time since 1988.

Davis, sworn in by District 6B Chief Superior Court Judge Cy Grant, was then chosen as Chairman of Hertford County’s Board of Commissioners, a seat he has held on numerous occasions since first being elected back in 1988.

&uot;It’s again my privilege to serve the fine citizens of Hertford County as well as my fellow Commissioners as the Chairman of the Board,&uot; said Davis, an Ahoskie businessman.

Davis said his close ties with North Carolina lawmakers – he was recently elected to an at-large position on the NC Association of County Commissioners (NCACC) Board of Directors – would bode well for Hertford County.

&uot;Staying up-to-date with what’s happening within state government and being close to those policymakers who are shaping the rules and regulations here in our state is of great benefit to our county,&uot; noted Davis, who is past president of the NCACC.

Davis was elected local Board Chairman by a 4-1 margin. He was nominated by Commissioner Curtis Freeman. Newly elected Commissioner John Pierce nominated current Board Chairman Johnnie Ray Farmer to serve another term in the lead chair. When the votes were cast, Farmer, Freeman, Davis and Howard Hunter III, another newly elected Commissioner, voted for Davis. Pierce cast his vote for Farmer.

The nomination process for Vice-Chairman of the Board was brief. Hunter nominated Freeman. Pierce called for the nominations to be closed, which was approved. Freeman, by acclamation, was voted in as the Vice-Chairman.

Prior to the nominations, Pierce and Hunter respectively took their oath of office for the first time. Pierce was sworn in by Magistrate Patricia Shearn while Hunter took his oath of office from his father, veteran District 5 NC House of Representatives member Howard Hunter Jr.

Also sworn in on Monday was Kathleen Wright, the recently reelected Hertford County Register of Deeds. Patricia Weaver, Assistant Hertford County Manager and Clerk to the Board, administered the oath of office to Wright.

Other action taken by the Board on Monday included:

* Appointed Davis as Hertford County’s voting delegate for the NCACC’s Legislative Goals Conference to be held Jan. 13-14, 2005 in High Point.

* Set a public hearing for 9:30 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 3 to hear a request from Cham Properties for the state and county to abandon SR 1321, the Chowan Beach Road near Winton.

* Adopted a resolution in support of WUND Public TV to relocate their base of operation from Columbia to Edenton. The objective of the proposed move is to allow rural citizens in northeastern North Carolina, without the benefits of cable or satellite TV, to receive better reception of their public television network.

* Approved a request submitted by Hertford County Sheriff Juan Vaughan for an additional $5,000 in appropriations for the Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Task Force.

* Approved the opening of a competitive bid process for a parcel of county-owned land on Jernigan Airport Road (property that once served as a trash collection site).