Comments for Washington, N.C., Deserves Better Than This | Eastern NC Now
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ThinkingItThroughNC — I respect the instinct to be fair, I do. But at some point "let's hear both sides" becomes a shield for people who are counting on the public's reasonableness to run out the clock. The vote is Monday I thought? Perreault and Tyre have had months to address the Roberson situation publicly and they have said exactly nothing to fire him. That silence IS their response. Waiting for an accounting that these two have shown zero intention of giving is how this kind of thing gets waved through while good people are still deliberating.
Commented: Friday, April 10th, 2026 @ 3:44 pm
By: OldNorthMarket
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I saw this on Joe Davis's Facebook page. He wrote what you see below:
"Just received this email: Good morning, We are excited to share an important update with you all. The City of Washington has officially hired a new City Manager, Jonathan N. Rorie, MPA, who will begin his role on Monday, April 13." The email was signed by Ellen Brabo. My question is...did this guy get hired without a meeting and vote at which JoeDavis would have been present???? Inquiring minds want to know.
Commented: Friday, April 10th, 2026 @ 3:21 pm
By: Washingtonian
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What Washington needed as a city manager was someone with a sharp pencil able to cut through all the bloat and waste, cut spending, and cut taxes. We need someone with a good track record of doing just that. Instead, they give us a guy who is clearly a bureaucrat's bureaucrat. That is what Washington does NOT need. We have had way too much spending under the previous regime and a lousy city manager who was a big part of the problem.
Tyre was also a big part of the problem that got us in this mess, and any elected official who kisses his ass is absolutely worthless. This is all so sickening.
Commented: Friday, April 10th, 2026 @ 2:32 pm
By: Concerned Taxpayer
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Brabo.... Moved here five years ago. Bought a house in a residential neighborhood. Lied on her special permit application. Neighbors complain. She goes before the board under oath. Lies again. Lies upon lies upon lies build up. She's basically running a commercial business in the heart of a residential neighborhood. And now she plays the VICTIM of the problem she herself created. She's breaking the law every day she is open. She's a fraud, and a liar, and needs to resign. She is the only sitting mayor in the entire country suing their own city. Washington deserves better than this unhinged, unethical woman. She's a traitor to the city she serves.
Commented: Friday, April 10th, 2026 @ 1:01 pm
By: Woke
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I love how you MAGATS create the problems, then try playing the victim of the problem you created. It's right out of the MAGAT playbook. Washington had the best city manager in the entire state before Nick Fritz started his misinformation campaign. The whole 24 million in debt... The city is broke.... There's no money for anything.... It'll take 20 years to recover from this financial mess. ALL LIES. At first he blamed the previous mayor and council for this fabricated financial disaster. And then overnight he decided to target former city manager Johnathan Russell for the dire financial situation. He convinced half this city that Washington was in the worst financial mess in its history. He made accusations that Russell may have done something nefarious with the money. Again... All lies. Washington lost the best city manager in the entire state because of Nick Fritz and his lies. Nick Fritz should be forced to resign.
Commented: Friday, April 10th, 2026 @ 12:52 pm
By: Woke
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This dude is a dud, NOT what we need as a city manager.
Commented: Friday, April 10th, 2026 @ 11:44 am
By: Bubba
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With this new city manager's HORRIBLE background, one wonders what our council did to vet him? Apparently not much or did they actually want an arrogant anti-transparency jerk like this??? Is Max Perrault now brownnosing radical conman Tyre?
Bobby Roverson has an excellent track record and is someone we can trust. This new guy comes with some really awful baggage. Is Parrault letting Tyre be the tail that wags the dog?
Commented: Friday, April 10th, 2026 @ 11:07 am
By: Conservative Voter
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Replying to Washingtonian re: Mayor Brabo's B&B on Market Street — now THAT is an interesting development worth watching. So let me understand the full picture: we have a council coalition that halted a police chief search to manufacture leverage for their city manager pick, and simultaneously the Mayor's own property is heading before the Board of Adjustments? Washington's governance soap opera just added another episode. I'm not saying these things are connected. I'm saying when you've already watched this council operate the way it has, you don't take coincidences at face value anymore.
Commented: Friday, April 10th, 2026 @ 10:36 am
By: RiverCityRealist
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Next week, the Washington Board of Adjustments has an agenda to discuss matters related to the future of Mayor Brabo's Bed and Breakfast on Market St. Read details here:
cms8.revize.com
Commented: Friday, April 10th, 2026 @ 10:00 am
By: Washingtonian
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What strikes me most is how preventable all of this was. Bobby Roberson stepped up in a difficult moment for this city and has been treated like an obstacle rather than an asset. Whether Rorie gets hired or not, somebody needs to stand up publicly for what was done to that man. The silence from the rest of the council including the Tax Team has been just as loud as Perreault's outbursts.
Commented: Thursday, April 9th, 2026 @ 8:20 pm
By: QuietObserverWNC
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I have real concerns about Rorie's record and I think the behavior described toward Mr. Roberson is inexcusable if accurate. But I'd also want to hear Perreault and Tyre's side before drawing final conclusions. Public officials deserve the chance to respond to allegations this serious, even when the allegations are from highly credible sources.
Commented: Thursday, April 9th, 2026 @ 8:25 pm
By: ThinkingItThroughNC
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AngryOnAguila, you make an excellent point. Screaming at anyone in a meeting shows an unfitness that in normal times absolutely does call for a resignation. I've gotten so use to rude violent behavior from so many beings on this planet that I actually just took it with a grain of salt. I'm glad your reminded me that, that kind of behavior shows a kind of 21st Century mental illness so prevalent today.
An apology to the whole City is definitely a Must, and the least that must be done. While I want to criticize people in Govt for actions that I consider negligent and unprofessional, or even ignorant, I would always do that with courtesy. Sometimes I almost have to bite my tongue off. If you have ever been that one person with your hair on fire, you know what I mean, but being professional is what an adult must do!
Commented: Thursday, April 9th, 2026 @ 8:57 pm
By: Washingtonian
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This new city manager sounds a lot like the current authoritarian government in Germany that will arrest citizens for insulting politicians. One posted on social media that the highly unsuccessful economics Minister in the last government was a "moron" and got arrested for that post. He is far from the only one. Washington does NOT need a pompous bureaucrat of this ilk.
Commented: Thursday, April 9th, 2026 @ 8:45 pm
By: John Steed
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If even HALF of what this article describes about Perreault screaming at Bobby Roberson through walls is true, he needs to resign. Full stop. I don't care what party you are or what you think about city management philosophy. You don't treat a 40-year public servant like that. This isn't politics anymore. It's basic human decency and he failed it miserably.
Commented: Thursday, April 9th, 2026 @ 8:11 pm
By: AngryOnAguila
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I don't have a strong opinion on Rorie one way or the other — I just want the process to be fair and transparent. Rushing a vote on a permanent city manager when serious questions are still unanswered is exactly the kind of governance that got us into state fiscal oversight in the first place. Slow down. Get it right.
Commented: Thursday, April 9th, 2026 @ 8:10 pm
By: JustALocalTaxpayer
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YIKES! It was already bad enough that we citizens had to worry about retaliation from the City's bureaucrats. In the future we may have to worry about lawsuits against us as well. HOw many future businesses would want to locate to such an environment?
Why would any sane group of people choose to create such a totalitarian environment for a small town with less than 10,000 citizens? I say again... Washington is broken. Why isnt Washington Govt the topic of every conversation, every day?
Commented: Thursday, April 9th, 2026 @ 4:31 pm
By: Washingtonian
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This city manager seems even worse than the last one. Why is Perault teaming up with Tyre? Tyre is a hard core leftis and does not even really live in Washington.
Bobby Roberson is a straight up guy and a conservative Republican.
Commented: Thursday, April 9th, 2026 @ 2:52 pm
By: Concerned Taxpayer
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Bill: The problem for the City Council in hiring so quickly without deliberating anywhere near enough is multi-fold; however, the most important piece to that puzzle is that if the guy does not work out, it becomes very expensive to the taxpayers to send him packing because of the contract that they will all sign giving such an elaborate severance package, which is becoming the norm in hiring managers.
I hear it will be grand in scale; just like the last guy.
Commented: Thursday, April 9th, 2026 @ 1:48 pm
By: Stan Deatherage
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WHY would this individual have ANY opportunity to be hired? Anywhere? Red flag after red flag after red flag. Seems City Council is struggling mightily. I'm also certain I saw Max at the BC GOP Convention? WHY is he there and who is his support/supporters w/in the Party?
Commented: Thursday, April 9th, 2026 @ 11:25 am
By: Jeffery Williamson
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Truly disgusting! Our son, Himself a W City Councilman, strongly opposes this candidate. Your article was spot-on!
Commented: Thursday, April 9th, 2026 @ 9:58 am
By: Disgusting Our son is a Washington City
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Decent article but I'd push back on one thing — framing the police chief hire as a conspiracy feels like a stretch without harder documentation. The Peachtree City stuff, though? That should have disqualified Rorie from the jump. A city manager who thinks taxpayer money should fund lawsuits against critics has no business running Washington.
Commented: Thursday, April 9th, 2026 @ 10:03 am
By: RiverCityRealist
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Max Perreault moved here what, a year ago? Ran as a Republican. Now he's governing like a man with a personal score to settle. The people who stuffed envelopes/made calls for him feel completely betrayed. I was one of them. Never again.
Commented: Thursday, April 9th, 2026 @ 10:04 am
By: OldNorthMarket
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I don't understand the big issue with waiting for a new city manager to hire the next police chief. As I understand it, the city manager works for city council and everyone else (except city attorney and clerk) in the organization works for the city manager. The new manager should get to hire his own staff, not someone hired by an interim city manager. He builds his own team and if the council doesn't like how things are going, they fire the city manager. It is like a new coach getting stuck with the old coach's assistants or the city manager hiring the assistant police chief instead of the police chief hiring them.
Commented: Thursday, April 9th, 2026 @ 8:38 am
By: Bill
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