After weeks of town turmoil, the town of Cary is paving a path forward to rebuild trust through transparency under the tutelage of its new interim Town Manager, Russ Overton.
The Dec. 14 resignation by Sean Stegall exposed vulnerabilities in how the town of Cary operates. Stegall’s departure was marked by over-the-top spending and inadequate financial reporting, lack of transparency with the full council, staff and citizens and an unhealthy work environment, according to the mayor.
“I just hate that we’re all going through this,” Overton said. “I hope some people might just hopefully not judge us by our worst day, and look at the bulk of the entirety of what Cary is and maybe give us a little grace in that.”
Overton is tasked with the rebound. After 27 years with the town of Cary, in a variety of roles, he’s leading the charge in restoring respect to the blemished role left by Stegall.
When asked about specific areas Stegall overspent money on, Overton says he’s learning things as we are.
“The focus now is obviously moving the town forward,” Overton said.
To do that, Overton is focused on transparency. The town is currently being audited by the state, its doing its own internal investigation and they’re being inundated with open records requests.
“We’ve had a lot,” Overton said. “We’ve put together a website to show all those records requests [to be more transparent.]”
The website shows a list of 28 records that have been requested thus far, including communication between Stegall and other staff, his resignation letter and more.
“Trust in government and trust with citizens’ needs to be gained back,” Overton said. “That’s one of the reasons they want to do their own internal review. I think it comes from transparency. It’s sharing information with everyone, the same way our budget process is a very transparent process.”
In a nearly 20-minute interview, Overton explained the other ways the town is transparent. But the changes to be more transparent are far from the only adjustments ahead, including how the town manager operates.
“They’ve said they want those things,” Overton said. “I want to cooperate with those things. I’m certain that the internal review will probably produce some recommendations and then we’ll work to enact what they are.”
Those spending concerns come after hefty increases to property taxes, raising questions about how Cary residents can trust leadership’s spending.
“The first thing that I think they could do is be part of the budget process,” Overton said. “Every place that we spend money is documented in our budget. We’re a financially sound organization despite what people are reading or maybe hearing or feeling. I’d say, just come be part of what we’re doing and learn. Maybe there’s a way that we can be even more transparent with them this year.”
WRAL reported last week that Stegall spent more than $3,000 on a four-night, 4-star hotel stay in Austin, Texas in 2023 for a conference, while other employees stayed at a different hotel across the street. He also spent hundreds more for a “luxury” car service to and from the airport.
Additionally, former Councilmember Jennifer Robinson called into question a $1.3 million check that was intercepted by a bad actor in the mail. It is unclear if the town ever got that money back.
Then there are the records showing the town of Cary bought two parcels of land near Cary Elementary School totaling more than $1 million, against the recommendation of the assistant town manager. Plus, not every councilmember knew about the transaction.
And earlier this month, residents called Stegall’s spending into question after his suggestion to pay for another councilmember’s master’s degree, totaling more than $37,000.
And upon Stegall’s resignation, it was learned he’d receive a nearly $200,000 severance as part of his contract.
“Do you think people will accept that you guys are financially sound when they see improper spending?” WRAL asked Overton.
“Well, I’d hope they’d verify and not just trust,” Overton said. “Go look at what we’ve shared with everyone else [through records requests] and maybe draw your own conclusions. But, at the same time to your point, it’s not earned quickly. It’ll be over time. Hopefully, they’ll come in and be part of neighborhood meetings and district meetings and all of these things that we’ll have. I think it’s important to [the] council in the actions that they show for their constituents. That’s how you earn back that trust.”
That type of severance will not be available to Overton while serving in the interim role. He says that language in contracts for town managers is an “industry standard” and any changes to it would need to be considered by the Town Council.
And change is surely on the horizon. Overton says as part of the town’s internal review, they will be looking at policies and procedures to ensure something like this never happens again.
“The Council briefly mentioned thinking about delegated authority,” Overton pointed out as an example. “Who signs what contract and possibly reporting structure back to [the] council. There just needs to be transparency. Hey, we signed a contract this week or last month. Whenever that information is technically available, maybe you report on it somehow.”
The timeline on this internal review could take months, according to the mayor.