Tag: mayor consulting

Cary Mayor Harold Weinbrecht is no longer a consultant for WithersRavenel, a prominent engineering and land development firm that does substantial business with the town and with clients seeking town approvals, the mayor said on his blog Sunday.

Weinbrecht said he terminated his contract with the Cary-based firm, while maintaining that he did not improperly mix his public and business roles. The “negative environment” created by the actions of former Town Manager Sean Stegall, which are now under criminal investigation, coupled with “a false narrative surrounding WithersRavenel has cast an unwarranted shadow” over the firm, he said.

“I do not want the current environment to cause harm to any individual or business,” he said. “The last thing we need is for good people or a good company to be unfairly damaged.”

Weinbrecht’s decision to stop working for the firm comes after The News & Observer reported last month that he had twice invited Cary staff to two dinners WithersRavenel paid for at the International City/County Management Association’s annual conference in Austin, Texas, in 2023.

Weinbrecht noted in emails to staff that he was inviting them as a consultant for WithersRavenel and that he was attending the conference on the company’s behalf. The dinners were intended to win more business for the firm.

“Part of the WR (WithersRavenel) activities during our time at ICMA is to invite attendees to dinner to further our relationships,” he wrote in inviting two assistant town managers on Sept. 26, 2023, four days before the conference began. Later that day, he extended the dinner invitations to five other Cary staff members going to the conference, including Stegall.

State law bars business from giving gifts to elected and hired municipal officials while in the pursuit of business. Municipal officials also can’t accept those gifts. Both are misdemeanor offenses. Dinners are considered gifts under the law, though there’s an exception for events where many are invited, such as banquets.

The dinners Weinbrecht invited the Cary officials to limited seating to no more than 20 people.

Sherri Zann Rosenthal, a retired Durham deputy city attorney, told The N&O last month the invites created “sticky questions” because the mayor has some power over those invited.

“Part of that stickiness is that the town manager knows his or her job depends on keeping the good favor of the mayor,” Rosenthal said.

Weinbrecht acknowledged in an earlier blog post that The N&O’s initial reporting about the dinner invites “made people question my integrity.”

State law allows elected officials to work for companies that do business with their municipalities. But if that business is seeking public action that would directly benefit the official, the official has to abstain.

Weinbrecht began consulting for WithersRavenel in 2023 and since then he has earned roughly $60,000 in fees, he said on his blog. None of that work involved the Town of Cary, he said.

In recent years the firm has helped develop the town’s acclaimed downtown park, relocate a 7.1-mile greenway and design a new fire station on East Chatham Street. The Umstead Hotel & Spa is among the firm’s private clients who have sought town approvals.

Weinbrecht declined to be interviewed last month when asked about his public and private roles, saying in a text message that a reporter’s questions were “insulting.” In his blog Sunday, he said he “will not provide further interviews on this matter.”

This story was originally published January 19, 2026 at 4:42 PM.