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During a regularly scheduled meeting Thursday night, Cary’s town council set aside hundreds of thousands of dollars, the latest fallout from former town manager Sean Stegall’s resignation.
The council unanimously approved $150,000 for a law firm to investigate Stegall’s expenditures and conduct while in office, and $100,000 for an employee survey.
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During the meeting, several town council members noted this is a significant amount of money, but they believe these are funds well spent.
“This may look like a big expense, but it is needed to do a complete health check on where the organization stands. We cannot come back after one year and say ‘oops, we should have done more, [a] fuller assessment of the organization,'” said council member Sarika Bansal.
Council member Carissa Kohn-Johnson added she felt the investment was appropriate.
“We’re feeling a lot of pressure to be really, really…I don’t want to say ‘cheap,” Kohn-Johnson said. “I do understand why the costs are what they are.”
Mayor Pro Tem Lori Bush was the only member of council to raise significant concerns about the survey, wondering at several points about “fiscal responsibility.
Ultimately, both the funds for the survey and the funds for the law firm investigation were approved unanimously.
According to interim town manager Russ Overton, the law firm Womble Bond Dickinson will carry out the investigation into Stegall’s conduct.
Investigators will examine Stegall’s “procurement card usage, reimbursement of town funds, and expenditures of town funds to Stegall and his support staff, other senior staff, and the council.”
Investigators will also look into “Stegall’s reporting of town finances to the council” and “the work environment created by Stegall with town staff and the council.”
The employee survey would be the first such survey in a decade, according to Overton. The funds the town council set aside will go towards in-person focus groups, outreach to drive employee participation, as well as the design, distribution, and analysis of the survey itself.
Stegall was first placed on administrative leave in November 2025. He resigned a month later.
According to town officials, Stegall engaged in “over-the-top spending and inadequate financial reporting, lack of transparency with the full council, staff and citizens, and creating an unhealthy work environment.”
Stegall’s conduct is also currently being investigated by the State Auditor’s office.
Multiple attempts to reach Stegall for comment in the past have gone unanswered.