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Read our AI Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n \n 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.\n <\/p>\n Read more Who is the man behind NC State\u2019s surprise student debt cancellation?<\/a><\/p>\n Professional development for Cary employees once meant taking classes at the UNC School of Government or attending conferences and workshops through municipal leader associations.<\/p>\n But after Sean Stegall was hired as town manager in 2016, education benefits looked different. \u201cNo one went to Harvard\u201d before he was hired, Chief Strategy Officer Susan Moran told The News & Observer.<\/p>\n Stegall \u201cdecided who would go to Harvard, when they would go, and that the town would pay for Harvard,\u201d Moran said.<\/p>\n The town also paid for courses at Vanderbilt University and the University of Virginia. The former town manager \u201cdirected that those experiences be paid for with town funds, whether it was for council or for staff,\u201d Moran said.<\/p>\n At least $84,909.90 has been spent to send a handful of the town\u2019s senior staffers through programs at the schools since 2016, a review of town records by The News & Observer found.<\/p>\n That includes tuition for executive leadership courses at the universities. Other documents show more expenses for travel, lodging and meals to attend the sometimes weeks-long programs.<\/p>\n Neither Stegall nor his attorney responded to The N&O\u2019s request for comment.<\/p>\n \u201cEverything changed,\u201d after Stegall finished a Harvard certificate program in 2008.<\/p>\n \u201cI saw the light,\u201d the former Cary town manager, who was forced to resign late last year and is now under investigation for questionable spending, wrote in his book published last year.<\/a><\/p>\n It is where Stegall \u201clearned to be the manager that he was when the council hired him to be that next manager,\u201d Moran said.<\/p>\n After his hiring, other officials ended up going through a similar Harvard course, according to records released to The N&O.<\/p>\n Tuition alone for the three officials to enroll in the Senior Executives in State and Local Government certificate course at Harvard cost $51,700.<\/p>\n Interim Town Manager Russ Overton, Assistant Town Manager Danna Widmar and Chief Human Resources Officer Renee Poole all finished the course between 2022 and 2024, the Harvard Kennedy School confirmed to The N&O.<\/p>\n In addition to Poole\u2019s $17,400 tuition, $975.35 was spent on airfare and transportation to Massachusetts, records show. The grand total for her time at Harvard was $19,125.35, which included $750 in per diem expenses for the three-week course.<\/p>\n The program\u2019s tuition covered lodging and food expenses, the Harvard Kennedy School confirmed.<\/p>\n Poole didn\u2019t respond to The N&O\u2019s questions about whether she was approached by Stegall to take the course, as Moran\u2019s narrative suggests. Or whether she had any concerns about using town money to pay for the expenses.<\/p>\n In an email to The N&O, Widmar said the former town manager identified programs for her to take.<\/p>\n Overton\u2019s tuition cost $16,900. Another invoice shows an additional $435.61 spent on a single night at the Double Tree Hotel in Boston.<\/p>\n Read more Inside a Carolina Hurricanes defensive duo\u2019s chemistry: Friendship forged in faith<\/a><\/p>\n In a statement to The N&O, Overton said Stegall made him aware of the \u201ctraining opportunities,\u201d but did not answer whether using town money to pay for the education raised any red flags to him.<\/p>\n Stegall and his lawyer didn\u2019t respond to a request for comment about Moran\u2019s claims about his affinity for Harvard or if he prompted others in the town to apply for the program.<\/p>\n In addition to Harvard, town records show Stegall and Widmar registered for various courses and events at Vanderbilt University in Nashville.<\/p>\n Almost $2,300 was paid to the university\u2019s Office of Conferences from the town on Stegall\u2019s behalf in 2019, expense reports show. An additional $887.81 was spent on a room at Hyatt\u2019s Holston House in Nashville in February that same year.<\/p>\n It cost $5,705 a few months later to enroll Stegall in a \u201cLeadership Excellence\u201d course taught through Vanderbilt\u2019s Owen Graduate School of Management, records show.<\/p>\n Widmar was enrolled in an event through Vanderbilt\u2019s Office of Conferences in 2018, which cost the town close to $2,300.<\/p>\n Another $10,950 was paid to American University by another town employee on Stegall\u2019s behalf, town records show.<\/p>\n Stegall says he holds a leadership coaching certificate from the institution, according to an author page on Simon & Schuster\u2019s website, the company that published Stegall\u2019s book.<\/p>\n Other money was spent to send town officials to the Senior Executive Institute hosted by the University of Virginia. That includes $9,558.73 for registration fees and travel expenses.<\/p>\n Moran said there is a distinction between \u201cprofessional development\u201d and education expenses. As to whether that language had any significance to how money is disbursed under certain policies, Moran turned it back on Stegall.<\/p>\n \u201cThe manager makes the rules,\u201d Moran said during an interview with The N&O. \u201cThe manager gets to direct the expenditures, within whatever parameters there are in the adopted budget of the town.\u201d<\/p>\n Cary employees can be reimbursed for tuition, registration, laboratory and student fees, according to the town\u2019s code.<\/a> There isn\u2019t a cap on the amount of money that can be reimbursed for those expenses.<\/p>\n Another stipulation of the code: \u201cSatisfactory completion of the course will be required for reimbursement.\u201d Records show the town paid for at least some of the expenses before staffers started their course.<\/p>\n After the one-hour interview Moran agreed to, an N&O reporter reached back out for clarification about whether using town money to register officials for courses before they\u2019ve completed the programs goes against town code. Moran declined to provide additional answers.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t have anything more on this story for you,\u201d Moran said in an email to The N&O. \u201cHopefully, our time together ends up being sufficient for your needs.\u201d<\/p>\n Cary officials have used town money to pay for council member Lori Bush used $37,397 to fund a Northwestern master\u2019s degree, The N&O reported.<\/a> Bush later repaid that money.<\/p>\n