During a regularly scheduled meeting Thursday night, Cary’s town council set aside hundreds of thousands of dollars, the latest fallout from former town manager Sean Stegall’s resignation.
During the meeting, several town council members noted this is a significant amount of money, but they believe these are funds well spent.
“This may look like a big expense, but it is needed 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 more, [a] fuller assessment of the organization,’” said council member Sarika Bansal.
Council member Carissa Kohn-Johnson added she felt the investment was appropriate.
“We’re feeling a lot of pressure to be really, really…I don’t want to say ‘cheap,” Kohn-Johnson said. “I do understand why the costs are what they are.”
Mayor Pro Tem Lori Bush was the only member of council to raise significant concerns about the survey, wondering at several points about “fiscal responsibility.
Ultimately, both the funds for the survey and the funds for the law firm investigation were approved unanimously.
According to interim town manager Russ Overton, the law firm Womble Bond Dickinson will carry out the investigation into Stegall’s conduct.
Investigators will examine Stegall’s “procurement card usage, reimbursement of town funds, and expenditures of town funds to Stegall and his support staff, other senior staff, and the council.”
Investigators will also look into “Stegall’s reporting of town finances to the council” and “the work environment created by Stegall with town staff and the council.”
The employee survey would be the first such survey in a decade, according to Overton. The funds the town council set aside will go towards in-person focus groups, outreach to drive employee participation, as well as the design, distribution, and analysis of the survey itself.
According to town officials, Stegall engaged in “over-the-top spending and inadequate financial reporting, lack of transparency with the full council, staff and citizens, and creating an unhealthy work environment.”
Stegall’s conduct is also currently being investigated by the State Auditor’s office.
Multiple attempts to reach Stegall for comment in the past have gone unanswered.
The town of Cary has been in the spotlight since late November, when Town Manager Sean Stegall was put on administrative leave without any explanation from the town. Stegall resigned Dec. 13, 2025, amid reports of questionable spending. Here is ongoing coverage from The News & Observer.
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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.”
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.
Anna Roman covers Raleigh and Wake County for the News & Observer. She has previously covered city government, crime and business for newspapers across North Carolina and received many North Carolina Press Association awards, including first place for investigative reporting.
Cary Mayor Harold Weinbrecht shares new information about what led up to the Cary town manager being asked to resign.
In a blog post, Weinbrecht said the now-former town manager went around the council to make a large land purchase.
According to the blog, Sean Stegall had the authority to spend up to one million dollars before needing to go before the town council.
According to Weinbrecht, the property Stegall bought exceeded that value. However, he said Stegall split the purchases to avoid crossing the threshold.
“Because the two parcels were acquired through separate contracts, each individual purchase did not exceed that threshold, allowing staff to execute the agreements without bringing them before the Town Council for approval,” Weinbrecht said.
The mayor also said he initiated a review of Stegall after learning the town spent more than $25,000 on a councilmember’s tuition.
“When I first learned of the tuition expense in October, I immediately questioned the town manager about it,” Weinbrecht said. “At that time, he defended the expenditure, and I was not aware of the full scope of the spending.”
Councilwoman Lori Bush has since paid back that money.
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 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.