Spring Lake mayor demands answers after state treasurer refuses to pay to hire new town manager
The mayor of a troubled town in Cumberland County is demanding answers from the state treasurer after he refused to fund the hiring of a new town manager.
The Local Government Commission took control of Spring Lake's finances in October 2021, citing concerns that the town would default on debts. At the time, the Spring Lake budget showed an estimated deficit of $1.2 million.
Just last month, a former finance director for the town of Spring Lake pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $500,000 between 2016 and 2021.
Mayor Kia Anthony is calling for a one-on-one meeting with State Treasurer Dale Folwell, who leads the Local Government Commission, to get some answers for the town.
Just moments after settling into their seats inside the municipal building Monday night, the Spring Lake Board of Alderman went behind closed doors to discuss a decision by Folwell to deny funding for Spring Lake to hire Justine Jones as the new town manager.
"No one was notified of this decision," said Anthony. "I found out from WRAL."
The board met for a little over an hour. They didn't take any action.
Jones left Kenly in August when the town council there terminated her contract. The Kenly chief of police, four officers and two town administrators accused her of creating a toxic work environment.
An independent investigation found no evidence to support those claims and supporters rallied behind Jones.
Folwell says the decision to deny funds to hire Jones is based on "new and unsettling information" that came to light about her past employment.
"We just Google searched this person," said Folwell.
"Google?" Anthony laughed. "I think that’s unfortunate that a Google search would be the depth of the analysis that you did on such a crucial and critical position that is now stalling the progression of the town."
The board voted 3 to 2 last Monday to hire Jones.
"To see a woman who has been proven innocent have a situation in her past held against her, we’re double victimizing her," said Anthony.
"What the town should do is find a new, qualified candidate with the highest levels of expertise that can keep Spring Lake from drowning," said Folwell. "It’s just that simple."
Anthony said this latest controversy won't keep the town from fixing the problems of its past.
"It may not have been our doing that put us here, but it is now our responsibility to rectify that and we take that very seriously," said Anthony.
Folwell told WRAL News he has offered to meet with the mayor, but wants it to be an open meeting where we could watch what happens.
The budget crafted by the Local Government Commission that took effect in July for 2022-23 is balanced at a little more than $8 million, with $544,994 going to service debt.
Last summer, town offices were closed temporarily and State Auditor Beth Wood said there was leadership lacking on the board of aldermen.
Neither Jones nor her critics has offered specifics about her time in Kenly.
She has said, "The allegations made against me were timely and thoroughly vetted by independent sources and there was no such finding of wrongdoing by me or my office. The decision to not communicate the entire story and publicly share the findings of the report is most unfortunate."
