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Cary leaders unanimously named longtime administrator Russ Overton the permanent town manager Thursday night.
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A senior official from former Town Manager Sean Stegall’s administration, Overton will now be responsible for carrying out reforms prompted by investigations into the town’s spending, management and workplace culture.
Overton had served as interim manager since Dec. 15, 2025, taking over after Stegall’s departure as Cary faced investigations into his spending and management practices.
Council members appointed Overton after a brief closed session Thursday night, then immediately swore him in as Cary’s 12th town manager, at a base salary of $344,000.
“You auditioned for this job. You were on trial almost and you exceeded, I think, any and all expectations I had,” council member Carissa Kohn-Johnson told Overton before the vote.
Cary did not conduct a national search for a new manager. Kohn-Johnson said she did not believe the expense was justified when the town already had “proven leadership” internally.
Mayor Harold Weinbrecht described the previous months as a “tough” period. Council member Sarika Bansal said “there was no playbook” when “everything started collapsing,” while Brittany Richards said Cary needed stability and someone with a deep attachment to the town.
Overton declined an interview with The News & Observer after the meeting.
Overton joined Cary in 1998 and became deputy town manager and chief operating officer in 2017, placing him among the town’s senior administrators during much of the period later examined by Womble Bond Dickinson.
The Town Council hired the outside law firm to independently examine Stegall-era spending and reimbursements, how financial information was reported to council and Cary’s workplace environment. Womble released its report in July and made 21 recommendations aimed at strengthening oversight and reducing the risk of too much authority and control of information being concentrated in the town manager’s office.
Womble did not formally exonerate Overton, but Kohn-Johnson said the scope of its review reassured her personally that there should not be “guilt by association.” She said she believed Overton had discharged his duties “faithfully and honestly.”
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Cary had a “tone at the top problem” it needed to solve, she said, while describing Overton as humble and dependable.
The same phrase appears in Overton’s new employment agreement. His contract contains a section titled “Tone at the Top,” requiring the manager to model integrity, ethical conduct, compliance and accountability.
The council also approved several post-Steagall safeguards Thursday. It shortened the policy’s stated interval for employee surveys from three years to two, narrowed language describing the manager’s authority over employees and will require council approval for new positions created in the middle of a budget year.
Other Womble recommendations being pursued include restoring an internal auditor and studying an employee tip line and ombuds program.
Overton’s base salary will be less than Stegall’s final $381,264 base salary. It is nearly five times the Raleigh-Cary area’s average annual wage of about $70,741 and $56,000 less than the U.S. president’s $400,000 salary. His contract has no fixed expiration and provides six months of severance under qualifying circumstances.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to continue that work alongside the people who make this community what it is,” Overton said after his appointment.
Kohn-Johnson said Overton has also changed how information reaches the council, with more discussions taking place in groups rather than individually.
“There’s no real opportunity to hide anything,” she said, adding that Overton’s approach reduces the “telephone game” of information moving from one person to another.
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“Russ loves Cary,” Bansal said. Overton, however, lives in neighboring Apex.
This story was originally published October 22, 2026 at 11:13 PM.