AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.<\/p>\n
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 Matt Rogers and Fraser Olender Split 8 Months After Confirming Romance<\/a><\/p>\n The State Auditor\u2019s Office released a 2,600-page report Thursday confirming a lengthy list of \u201cquestionable expenses\u201d and an \u201cintimidating\u201d work environment under former Town Manager Sean Stegall.<\/p>\n Stegall resigned as town manager of North Carolina\u2019s seventh-largest municipality<\/a> in December, three weeks after he was placed on administrative leave.<\/a> The town began scrutinizing Stegall following a public records request into what the mayor later called \u201cover-the-top\u201d spending.<\/p>\n \u201cOver the course of our investigation, we learned that the general working environment of the town discouraged the questioning of leadership,\u201d according to the auditor\u2019s report. \u201cMultiple people spoke of having observed something they thought they should report, but that they had no one to report it to.\u201d<\/p>\n Stegall did not respond to a phone call from The News & Observer after State Auditor Dave Boliek presented the report and took questions at a Thursday news conference.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s time for the people of Cary to understand exactly how their money is being spent,\u201d Boliek said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen government employees take executive van transportation to go 12 miles to a holiday dinner, and when they are going to fine dining steakhouse where the average meal comes out to be $102 a person, I don\u2019t think it\u2019s out of the realm of really common sense for taxpayers to start questioning how their government is spending their money,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n In addition to the state auditor\u2019s investigation, Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman and Cary Police Chief Terry Sult asked state investigators to launch a criminal investigation into whether town funds were misspent. That investigation is ongoing, Freeman told The N&O Thursday<\/a>.<\/p>\n The auditor\u2019s report has a page-and-a-half bulleted list of \u201cfood, travel and other questionable expenses,\u201d that includes:<\/p>\n About 60% of town staff have procurement cards, or credit cards for town expenses, compared to Raleigh and Charlotte, where 16% and 10% of staff have them, respectively. According to records from Cary\u2019s p-card provider from Jan. 1, 2024, through Dec. 31, 2025, there were 59,131 purchases totalling $24.2 million.<\/p>\n \u201cThe town\u2019s high number of p-cards increases the opportunity for fraud and wasteful spending,\u201d according to the report.<\/p>\n The auditor\u2019s office focused on spending of 22 employees close to the town manager\u2019s office, of which 18 have procurement cards.<\/p>\n Those 18 staff members, who were unnamed in the report, spent more than $700,000 over two years with about $600,000 of that on food, marketing, travel, education and \u201cother concerns,\u201d according to the report.<\/p>\n Most of the 619 transactions had receipts, but 76 had no receipts and 45 of the receipts were not itemized.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat our team has concluded is, and there\u2019s no better way to say it, that there\u2019s a cultural problem in terms of extravagant spending of taxpayer dollars in the town of Cary,\u201d Boleik said.<\/p>\n In a written response with the report, the town says Stegall was hired and began introducing \u201cprivate-sector thinking\u201d that made positive contributions, but \u201cyet, over time, and especially toward the end of his tenure, he made questionable decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n Read more Remembering Steve Stroud, big-picture thinker who made things happen in Raleigh<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThe work of the (State Auditor\u2019s office) and others has helped us identify gaps in oversight, process and culture,\u201d according to the report. \u201cAnd while these concerns are largely rooted in the former town manager\u2019s actions, we recognize that as an organization, we have the responsibility to understand what happened, identify how we can strengthen the systems that failed to prevent it, and ensure our practices reflect the standards our employees and community expect.\u201d<\/p>\n The statement said Stegall claimed he \u201cthrived under pressure\u201d and often waited on making decisions, which sometimes resulted in things like canceling hotel rooms outside of a refund window.<\/p>\n The town said it has provided hundreds of thousands of documents to the auditor\u2019s office and that town staff members have \u201cfully cooperated\u201d with the auditor\u2019s staff.<\/p>\n The town is holding a news conference at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at town hall to outline the town\u2019s response since Stegall resigned, and will release findings from the law firm the town hired to review its concerns.<\/p>\n The report makes 13 recommendations to the town including:<\/p>\n The auditor\u2019s office report outlines additional details about \u201cbullying and erratic behavior\u201d from Stegall and more about the culture working at town hall.<\/p>\n One unnamed employee stated she was in the process of resigning due to \u201cbullying and pressure\u201d when Stegall was placed on leave, according to the report.<\/p>\n \u201cYou could never go against (Stegall),\u201d the town clerk said, according to the report. \u201cYou could never tell him \u2018no.\u2019 (Stegall) always wanted the best. You could never say no to him. If you did, you were picked on, you were marginalized, all these things.\u201d<\/p>\n The clerk also told the auditor\u2019s office that Stegall would threaten to reveal that the town was paying for Mayor Pro Tem Lori Bush\u2019s tuition for her master\u2019s degree.<\/p>\n \u201c[Mr. Stegall] would tell me things like, \u2018If [Councilmember Bush] ever gets upset at me, I\u2019ll let everybody know about the tuition,\u201d the clerk said, according to the report. \u201cAnd [I] was like \u2018Everybody doesn\u2019t know?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The N&O revealed the town paid nearly $40,000 for Bush\u2019s tuition for a master\u2019s degree in Northwestern University\u2019s Public Policy Program. Bush repaid the money after the spending was reported, saying she wanted to \u201cremove any concern or distraction,\u201d and that she didn\u2019t know the full Town Council didn\u2019t know about the tuition payments.<\/p>\n An unnamed council member said Stegall wouldn\u2019t allow \u201cher to speak or voice concerns, even threatening to shut down projects for her district.\u201d<\/p>\n An N&O review of Stegall\u2019s purchases since the fall found a high-end speaker system delivered to his home, an out-of-town dinner classified as a training expense, upgraded airline tickets and stays at four-star hotels in 2024 and 2025.<\/p>\n In addition to Bush\u2019s tuition, The N&O also reported:<\/p>\n Stegall was hired by the Cary Town Council in 2016, making $210,000 when he was first hired. He is listed in state pension system records as making $366,054 last year.<\/p>\n He was scheduled to receive a severance package totalling $198,832, equal to six months pay, The N&O previously reported. The auditor\u2019s report states he did not receive the severance<\/a> because he did not return town property and provide access to his text messages for public records access.<\/p>\n