(This story was updated because an earlier version included an inaccuracy.)
The abrupt and surprising firing of the Spring Lake town manager Feb. 9 has some wondering if the town may be returning to its bad old days.
In a 3-2 vote, the Spring Lake Board of Commissioners fired Jon Rorie, who started the job May 1, 2024, and who had been the first permanent manager since 2021, when the state had to step in to help the town steady its finances. Mayor Pro Tem Fredricka Sutherland and commissioners Tony Burgess and Jackie Jackson voted to terminate Rorie’s contract; commissioners Soña Cooper and Adrian Jones Thompson were against it…