Dancing green: Where Cary goes next after town expenses included pricey dinners, dance video

[00:00:00]Today, we're talking about a story that has prompted a lot of conversations across North Carolina because it deals with how local government manages taxpayer money. So, a recent state audit took a close look at the town of Cary's finances and uncovered a lot that has caught the attention of residents and leaders across the state. It raises questions of accountability and of oversight. So, to help us understand what we're dealing with here, what was in the audit, why it matters, and what's next, uh we're bringing in here WRAL's Flynn Snyder, who's been staying on top of this big story. Flynn, hi, good to see you.

[00:00:39]>> thanks for having me.

[00:00:40]>> All right, so a lot to unpack here.

[00:00:42]>> Yes.

[00:00:43]>> Literally a lot to unpack. This audit is how many pages?

[00:00:47]>> 2,600 pages. We have the full thing right here on the table with us. This was the culmination of a months-long probe from the state auditor's office.

[00:00:55]>> Stacks and stacks of data. Uh first, let's talk about what prompted this audit. Why did the state auditor want to do a deep dive into Town of Cary's finances?

[00:01:05]>> So, the state auditor came in a couple months ago in the Town of Cary after allegations of financial mismanagement from then Town Manager Sean Stegall. And what started into a probe into those allegations led to this sweeping review of Cary's financial practices.

[00:01:20]>> So, the state auditor revealed uh what he found in this audit, and he mentioned a lot of questionable and extravagant expenses, uh excessive spending. Uh walk us through some of what he found.

[00:01:34]>> Yeah, state auditor Dave Bolick gave a press conference shortly after this audit was released last week, and he said it revealed what he called a culture of extravagant spending at Cary.

[00:01:43]It said uh he said that it led to a lot of concerns regarding Cary's spending practices, um the town policy regarding the use of town-issued credit cards, and the prevalence of those among staff, and just financial oversight in general in the town.

[00:01:57]>> And he also pointed out that there were had been a lack of oversight, that there was no one really um looking over these expenses or approving these expenses with no questions. And some might wonder, how did this go on for years and years? Um what did town leaders have to say about this?

[00:02:16]>> So, we've spoken with several current and former town leaders who tell us that there was a lot of trust placed in Stegel. Uh and that there wasn't any oversight on some of the purchases on these town-issued credit cards and other purchases going through the town. Uh long-time mayor Harold Weinbrecht, even before this audit came out, said that there was trust in Stegel and that there was a limit of information from Stegel to council about spending that was going on in the financial picture in Cary. Uh so, the audit, yes, touches on uh some of the spending that was going on, but it also talks about the breakdown in oversight and the breakdown of information from town staff to town council and elected officials in Cary.

[00:02:57]>> And Flynn, one thing um that stood out in this audit that people have been talking about, a 28-minute documentary-style video uh starring town employees. They apparently choreographed a dance to uh the song Dancing Queen. Um why did they make that video? How much did it cost? And again, what was town leaders' response on that expense?

[00:03:17]>> Yeah, I mean, there that was one of the line items identified in this audit that's really stuck out to people. Like you mentioned, it's a documentary-style video, interviews with town staff about how a dance routine came to be to, like you said, Dancing Queen by ABBA.

[00:03:31]>> And you've watched it.

[00:03:32]>> all 28 minutes of it, yes.

[00:03:35]This took place uh after a 2024 retreat in Wilmington. And the state auditor says that that retreat racked up about $120,000 worth of video production costs for the town. $34,000 of which included that retroactive documentary-style video about the dancing queen routine. Uh some other line items that jump out to us in the audit. Uh $1,600 spent on Ray-Ban sunglasses for town staff. You also have penthouse stays, $4,100 at a fine dining restaurant in Raleigh for town council and staff.

[00:04:09]Items that the state auditor just really identifies as questionable and and um feeding into what he calls that culture of extravagant spending in Cary.

[00:04:17]>> And Flynn, this wasn't just spending by Steel himself. This was also expenses that were submitted and approved by other town employees and elected town officials?

[00:04:30]>> Yeah, and and something that the auditor points out is that this spending problem, she says is partially blamed on the prevalence of government-issued credit cards or P-cards among town staff. The audit revealed that in November of 2025, 62% of town staff had these government-issued credit cards. Um he said that a lot of some of the uh purchases made on those cards weren't backed up with files or receipts, which the state auditor says really leads to some accountability issues. And you compare that 62% to some of other some of the other most populated areas in North Carolina. You think Raleigh, Charlotte, Durham. Those areas have an average of 16% of town staff with uh those government-issued credit cards.

[00:05:16]So, um the percentage of of cards that you saw in Cary was far higher than what the state auditor says the average was in other towns that are comparable size to Cary.

[00:05:26]>> So, um extensive list on um documented expenses by town leaders and town officials. State auditor very outspoken about his concerns, right, with the culture spending, lack of oversight and accountability.

[00:05:39]Um Did he also talk about uh recommendations? And what needs to be fixed so that these type of things don't keep happening.

[00:05:47]>> Yeah, there are several recommendations included in this audit related to those government-issued credit card policies and oversight policies. The town of Cary also commissioned their own special report when these issues first arose that recommends similar fixes as well.

[00:06:04]There's about 40 total recommendations that the town is working to implement right now. They've created this dashboard webpage where the public can view item by item recommendation by recommendation what is being proposed and some of the changes that council is working to fix. Overarching, the council the town says that these recommendations are going to work to boost transparency, fix oversight lapses, and just generally boost transparency policy to make sure that something like this does not happen again. At last check, they're only about 5% of the way through in implementing them, but we're expecting more changes to come as we approach the end of the year and get into early next year as well.

[00:06:41]>> So, it sounds like there are changes that are happening, but it's certainly going to take some time to put some of those processes in place to reverse some of the things that are happening.

[00:06:53]You've probably covered some of the town meetings as well and hearing from residents of Cary as they learn this information or trying to figure out what is happening with their town government. What are you hearing from them and what would they like to see from leadership?

[00:07:09]>> Well, I mean, there's a lot of questions about how this went on for so long. A lot of the similar questions that the state auditor raised as well.

[00:07:17]The town is expect town council is expected to meet this week in the coming days and we're expected to hear from the public for the first time to speak out at this meeting. This is the first meeting since the audit was released that the public is going to have a chance to to really talk about and and raise questions and ask leaders about how this all happened for several years.

[00:07:39]There are a a of new council members who weren't in power at the time and during the audit probe. Yes, correct. And I've spoken with several of them who say that they hold a great responsibility in in making these changes and ensuring that something like this does not happen again. It's also interesting to note that the audit and the special report from the town talk about the workplace that they say Steegle implemented as well. They said it was driven partly by bullying and and intimidation. And at this week's council meeting uh Cary leaders are expected to consider an anti-retaliation policy that would essentially protect whistleblower employees who come forward and report problematic behavior in the workplace.

[00:08:20]So you see two sides of this, the spending side as well as the workplace side that state leaders say contributed to this culture of extravagant spending.

[00:08:28]>> And speaking of Steegle, he resigned late last year, right? And so now there's an interim town manager handling things. Are they searching for a new town manager?

[00:08:37]>> It's interesting and that's some of the questions that we are trying to get answers to. Russ Overton is the interim town manager right now and he's really been at the helm of Cary as they kind of navigate this change and and push for increased transparency as well.

[00:08:53]I don't think this is the last thing we'll hear about Steegle given that there is an ongoing investigation on the criminal side of things. We've talked to Wake County District Attorney Lauren Freeman after this state auditor's report came out. She said that her office's criminal investigation about this spending is still ongoing as well.

[00:09:10]And the state auditor mentioned that she couldn't get into some of these finances so as to protect the integrity of the criminal investigation that is underway right now.

[00:09:17]>> So as we await details on that criminal investigation and other things that the state auditor is looking to, what else can we expect in the coming days and weeks from town leadership or what else might we be looking for here?

[00:09:33]>> I I think the big focus will be on the implementation of those recommendations.

[00:09:37]Several dozen, some of which we've already seen implemented or will be implemented in the coming days. Uh a lot of those uh changes as it relates to those credit card policies and the boost to and the push to boost oversight there, those are really expected to come February of next year.

[00:09:53]>> All right, Flynn. I know you'll stay on top of this story as there's uh a lot of questions still left to be answered and a lot of changes that we'll be uh monitoring in the coming weeks and months as uh town of Cary tries to deal with this. And the town of Cary, the uh seventh largest uh municipality in the state, um it's often cited as one of the best places to live in the country. It's used to getting accolades for its robust economy, low level of crime, and um being a safe place to live. The quality of life there, uh it's unusual to have this kind of attention uh focused on the town of Cary um as we've seen this uh deep dive, uh the state audit into its finances. So, we'll continue to cover all these developments um on the town of Cary's finances and the changes being implemented. Our team will stay on top of that. Uh you can follow along on WRAL, WRAL.com, and certainly here on WRAL YouTube. If you like this kind of content, please like and subscribe.