Town of Robbins financial woes hindering fire dept.’s quest for county $$$$
We’ve reported extensively about the financial woes and mismanagement within the government of Moore County’s Town of Robbins. Click here if you need to get refreshed or catch up.
Robbins mayor Cameron Dockery got elected to an open seat on the Moore County board of commissioners in March, in large part, thanks to an aggressive get-out-the-vote effort in southern Moore County by county commissioner Tom Adams and state representative Neal Jackson. Both men sold Dockery as an experienced, successful financial manager.
Meanwhile, in late 2025, the state auditor learned of a financial mess in the Robbins town government. No audits had been done. Check issuance was an absolute nightmare. Basic accounting procedures were not followed. And this had all transpired during the term of office of “experienced, successful financial manager” Cameron Dockery.
We know of one meeting between the town’s leaders and the auditor’s office. The election was in March.
It’s hard to believe that Adams, Jackson, and the entire town leadership were surprised about the financial mess in town government. But they kept quiet about it. The Pilot helped downplay it.
Dockery won the commissioner primary and – thanks to no November opposition – is on cruise-control to being sworn in at Carthage.
The mayor of Rocky Mount backed out of a congressional run in order to work on fixing his town’s financial mess.
Dockery ran for a higher office and is now leaving others behind to fix the mess.
Preside over a financial mess in your town, and get promoted to a bigger job. Only in politics.
We’ve also learned that the state’s Local Government Commission has slapped down Robbins for not properly submitting its financials.
There’s one more way that mayor Dockery’s administration is complicating things for Robbins. The fire departments that serve the town are seeking county funding for their operations. County leaders are hesitant to provide them with the money they seek — since there is no credible documentation available about the status and stability of the town’s finances. And who knows when that documentation will ever be provided.
Be sure to *thank* commissioner Adams and representative Jackson – the next time you see them – for aiding and abetting the importation of this financial and managerial disaster from the municipal ranks to the county level.
There is another part of this story that I have been reluctant to discuss publicly.
The Dockery race was not the only Moore County primary in which Tom Adams and Neal Jackson became involved. They also had involvement in the 2026 Moore County Board of Education race.
I was a candidate in that race. I have said very little about what occurred because I knew that, having failed to advance from the primary, anything I said afterward could easily be dismissed as “sour grapes.”
Let me make something very clear: I accept the election results. I was not entitled to win, and the voters made their decision. My concern is not that someone supported another candidate instead of me. People, including elected officials, are entitled to support whomever they choose.
What concerns me is the amount of influence a relatively small number of established political figures can exercise over races that extend well beyond their own offices. The political activity surrounding Cameron Dockery was not the only example during the 2026 primary. Those of us who were actually involved in the school board race saw political forces at work there as well.
At the time, the Moore County school board election was officially nonpartisan. Yet anyone who followed that campaign closely could see that party politics, endorsements, political networks, and organized efforts played a significant role despite the “nonpartisan” label.
I remained quiet because I did not want this discussion to become about David Norris losing an election. It is not about that. It is about the influence established political figures can exercise in local races and whether voters fully understand how much activity is occurring behind the scenes.
This article raises questions about the political effort surrounding Cameron Dockery’s primary campaign. I believe similar questions about political involvement deserve to be asked about the 2026 Moore County Board of Education primary.
Losing an election does not disqualify someone from discussing what he witnessed during that election. Sometimes it simply takes a little time and distance before speaking about it.