Cary agrees to spend up to $250K for outside investigation, employee ‘engagement’

Cary town leaders will spend up to $250,000 to hire an external law firm and communication consulting firm in the aftermath of former Town Manager Sean Stegall’s resignation.

Stegall was put on paid administrative leave in November and ultimately resigned in December after 10 years as the town’s top staff member as concerns were raised over questionable town spending, a lack of transparency and unhealthy work environment for town employees.

On Tuesday night, town leaders voted unanimously to spend up to $150,000 to hire Womble Bond Dickinson, a third-party law firm, and $100,000 for CRA | Admired Leadership, a leadership and strategic communication consultant.

The law firm will examine Stegall’s and others’ spending with procurement cards and reimbursements, according to a Jan. 15 letter from the law firm.

CRA | Admired Leadership will conduct an “employee engagement plan,” which includes focus groups and an employee survey, something council leaders say they asked for during Stegall’s tenure, but that didn’t happen.

The vote came after a lengthy discussion where some council members expressed hesitation to spend more money when expenses already are being scrutinized. But they acknowledged that doing so would help the town move forward.

“When there’s an oil spill, oil companies can’t throw up their hands and say they don’t want to spend money to clean up the spill,” said council member Brittany Richardson.

“You don’t get to say, ‘Well, we’ve made a mess. I don’t want to spend more money, so we’ll leave the mess as is,’” she said. “And that’s just unfortunately where we find ourselves right now. And so I agree this feels like an investment that perhaps nobody wanted to make, but we do have to make recognizing the reality of where we find ourselves.”

Before the unanimous vote, Mayor pro tem Lori Bush said she would support the motion but wished there would be a phased approach to the employee component.

The hiring of a law firm is in addition to other outside investigations into the town’s financial issues.

Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman and Cary’s police chief asked the State Bureau of Investigation to open a criminal probe into town spending, including transactions made by Stegall. That occurred after the State Auditor’s Office shared information on “potential criminal activity.”

Use of town procurement card

Stegall’s and the town’s spending is being investigated following a series of reports that included $150,000 spent on a book that highlighted Stegall’s leadership and money spent on a pricey hotel for an out-of-town conference.

The town also paid for $37,397 for a portion of Bush’s master’s degree tuition without the full council’s knowledge, The N&O previously reported. Bush has since reimbursed the town.

A News & Observer review of spending on Stegall’s town-issued procurement card included a high-end speaker system deliver to a home address and expensive out-of-town dinners classified as training expenses.

The letter from Womble Bond Dickinson outlines the scope of its investigation:

• Examining procurement card use and reimbursement of town funds and expenditures by Stegall, council members and senior staff and “others who directly supported the former town manager” from July 1, 2021, to Nov. 20, 2025.
• Examining Stegall’s reporting of town finances to the town council from July 1, 2021, to Nov. 20, 2025, and identifying written recommendations to the Cary Town Council and the public “methods, policies and practices to increase transparency and understanding between town managers, the full town council, town staff and citizens.”
• A review of the “work environment” created by Stegall from July 1, 2021, to Nov. 20, 2025, and provide written policies and practices to “create a work environment better aligned with the town’s values and culture.”

The letter outlines the cost of this work, $644 per hour, for a maximum of $150,000. The letter says Womble Bond will not comment, make statements or provide news releases to the media without first approval by the town attorney.

“The Womble effort is more focused on what has already happened, and we’ll talk to potentially past employees who have reached out and shared concerns and perhaps some current employees,” said Town Attorney Lisa Glover at Thursday’s meeting.

Employee relations

An anonymous, outside employee survey is imperative and has to be done now with urgency, Bush said. Council members agreed that an outside agency is needed to speak with employees.

The last employee survey was in 2012 and 2015, before Stegall was hired in 2016, according to the council agenda.

“Our employees are carrying the weight right now of rapid change, of intense public scrutiny and significant high expectations,” Bush said. “And we need a clear and honest picture of how they’re experiencing this moment in time.

“We also need to help them succeed where they’re struggling and without the data to actually know, because we are a data-driven organization, we’re leading in the dark.”

However, she said she’d be in favor of waiting on the focus groups until a later time given recent concerns about spending.

Council member Carissa Kohn-Johnson said she initially pushed back at the cost. But after doing some calculations, she said the cost comes down to about $75 per employee, a cost that felt reasonable.

The town has almost 1,300 employees, said interim town manager Russ Overton.

“Right now, we have been saying, ‘Gosh, I didn’t know about that. I wish I knew about that,’’’ Kohn-Johnson said. “I’ve said that too many times to be comfortable in the last couple of months. This investment is a way for us to know more.”

Council member Sarika Bansal agreed, saying the town needs “to do a complete health check on where the organization stands.

“We cannot come back after one year and say, ‘Oops, we should have done a more fuller assessment on the organization’. So this, in my view, is critical.”

Some residents addressed the controversies during the public comment portion of the meeting.

Addressing town leaders, Hanif Williams said he recommended that elected officials hold a town hall-style meeting where residents could ask questions, and he was told one was planned.

“Until this council gets this fire that you all ignited in a way where people can be heard, it’s going to continue to burn, and it will not be extinguished,” he said.

Reporter Nathan Collins contributed to this report.

This story was originally published January 22, 2026 at 10:41 PM.