Cary town manager resigns amid scrutiny over spending. Mayor ‘sick, sad and mad.’

Cary Town Manager Sean Stegall has resigned, three weeks after he was placed on paid administrative leave and concerns were raised about the town’s questionable spending.

His resignation, which occurred over the weekend, was announced late Monday at an emergency Cary Town Council meeting called by Mayor Harold Weinbrecht.

Speaking for the first time since Stegall was put on leave, the mayor cited three reasons for the action:

• “Over-the-top” spending and inadequate financial reporting
• Lack of transparency with the full council, staff and citizens
• “An unhealthy work environment created by” Stegall, with many of the staff who worked most closely with him

“For me as mayor, it simply came down to a lack of trust and confidence,” Weinbrecht said.

Stegall, who is 53, had worked for the town since 2016. The mayor said he was not aware of anything illegal having occurred, but was “absolutely stunned” by some of the revelations that have come to light so far through public records requests that the town received this fall.

“I’m sick, I’m sad, and I’m mad,” Weinbrecht said.

The town has hired Womble Bond Dickinson Law Firm to further investigate the situation, Weinbrecht said.

“While we will know a lot more about things that have occurred over the last few years, there may be more to learn, and so we have hired a law firm specializing in employment investigations to join us into looking deeply into Sean’s activities and the things he’s directed staff to do to ensure that we are fully aware of any problems and that we put process changes in place so that something like this will never happen again.”

Before Cary’s meeting, a spokesperson for State Auditor Dave Boliek’s office confirmed it is conducting a “preliminary review” of the situation.

Russ Overton, 51, the deputy town manager, had been serving as the interim town manager since late November. He was officially sworn in as interim manager Monday.

Overton was hired by the town as an engineer in 1998, and he became an assistant town manager in 2013.

Cary’s questionable spending

Before Monday, Weinbrecht had only said that a public records request revealed “key information” had not been shared with the full council and that “decisions were made without council approval.”

The News & Observer’s reporting has revealed:

• The town paid $37,397 for Mayor Pro Tem Lori Bush’s tuition for a master’s degree in Northwestern University’s Public Policy Program. Bush told The N&O she repaid the tuition after concerns were raised.
• The town spent $1 million on land without the council’s full knowledge for affordable housing. Town staff had emailed Bush that they didn’t recommend buying the land. Weinbrecht confirmed Monday that the full council was unaware of the purchase.
• Stegall submitted a lost-receipt form for $3,400 spent at a hotel “for multiple staff” during the 2023 International City/County Management Association’s annual conference in Austin. But documents obtained by The N&O show that staff attending the conference stayed at a different hotel.

Until Monday, the town had not responded to questions or public records requests about Stegall’s employment, various financial town policies and the tuition payments.

In an interview with reporters after Monday’s meeting, Weinbrecht said he was unsure of how Stegall’s procurement cards, or similar to a town credit card, were approved.

“I’m not sure how that worked, but my understanding is there’s a Staff Committee that reviews all of his expenditures,” he said. “But keep in mind, they work for the guy that they’re saying yes and no to, so that puts them in a difficult position.”

That process is one that will be reviewed and improved, he said.

“Our finances are in good shape thanks to our staff who’ve been working hard to blunt the impacts of Sean’s direct and indirect actions,” Weinbcrecht said during the meeting.

Stegall’s severance agreement

Stegall was city manager of Elgin, Ill. before he came to Cary. The town paid him a starting salary of $210,000 when he was hired, The N&O reported in 2016. He is listed in state pension system records as making $366,054 last year.

The separation agreement given to reporters Monday before the meeting states that Stegall will receive a six-month salary severance, totaling $194,832.

That severance is contractual, Weinbrecht told reporters after the meeting Monday.

“If we broke the contract, there’s a disparaging clause in the contract,” he said. “If we violated that or if he did not sign that, then he could sue the town and say anything he wanted and make up the stuff, who knows. To protect the town, to protect our citizens, to protect us going forward, we needed him to sign that contract, and part of the separation was part of that contract.”

The agreement, given to Stegall on Nov. 25, requires Stegall to return all town property, including a town cell phone, town credit cards and keys. It also states the town owns the copyright to the book “Top of the Arc,” which lists Stegall as the author.

“This agreement is intended to avoid all litigation relating to (Stegall’s) employment with the town and his termination therefrom; therefore, it is not to be construed as the Town’s admission of any liability to him, liability which the town denies.”

The town also provided reporters a copy of Stegall’s employment contract, which states the employee “shall periodically identify professional development training,” and will seek approval from the mayor “prior to participating in training that is not provided” by the town.

The contract also states Stegall will confer with the mayor prior to travel out of Wake County on town business overnight.

No severance would be paid if Stegall was charged or convicted of any felony or crime involving “fraud or moral turpitude,” according to his contract.

Residents demand transparency

On Thursday, Cary residents demanded greater transparency and answers, questioning whether they could trust those leading Wake County’s second-biggest municipality of over 191,000 people.

The Cary Town Council met for three hours Thursday in closed session, citing personnel as the reason. Weinbrecht adjourned the meeting shortly after 10 p.m. without taking any action. Council members then left the chambers through a rear door.

On his blog, Weinbrecht noted that recent public comment speakers “bashed” the town and council for not providing information about the manager’s suspension.

“We are not allowed to talk about the town manager’s leave according to state statutes,” he wrote on a blog post Sunday. “Doing so would break the law and could put the town at legal risk. I applaud council colleagues who choose to stay silent and protect the town. It is like being in a fight with both hands behind your back and not being allowed to talk. The truth will come out one day and I, for one, will be glad.”

State law gives state and local governmental entities the discretion to publicly discuss protected personnel matters and release records under what is commonly known as the integrity exemption. It is intended to give government officials the opportunity to show their bodies operate with integrity.

Reporters Nathan Collins and Dan Kane contributed to this report.

This story was originally published December 15, 2025 at 5:04 PM.

Anna Roman

The News & Observer

919-829-4807

Anna Roman is a service journalism reporter 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.