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Cary leaders gathered on Tuesday for their first work session on town affairs since the State Auditor's Office released a new report on financial mismanagement in the town.
Tuesday's meeting focused on how Cary Town Council Members will implement all recommendations brought forth in the state auditor's report and two other independent audits.
The state audit detailed not only years of financial misconduct but also a "culture of hostility" established by former Town Manager Sean Stegall. Council members focused on Tuesday on ways to change that.
First, by discussing bringing in consultants to manage the annual performance review of top town employees. Plus, by introducing a policy meant to protect employees who report bad behavior. The proposal would put in place a system in which reports may be made anonymously. The policy notes that an employee "tip line" would also be an appropriate reporting mechanism.
The state report also said the town's former town manager, Sean Stegall, and other town employees made more than a dozen "questionable" expenses, which ranged from expensive dinners and unauthorized land purchases to paying for a councilwoman's graduate-school tuition.
Carissa Kohn-Johnson spoke with WRAL after the meeting, sharing one way the council is considering making sure the town manager has better checks on what they are spending.
"One of the very first changes that we need to make is to put that ceiling in place, and make sure that there are no very large expenses, very large contracts executed, that council isn't aware of ahead of time," she said.
"What the team found in the town of Cary is, quite frankly, a culture of extravagant spending of tax dollars by elected officials and the staff of the town of Cary," Boliek said Thursday at a news conference. "What started as a focused investigation on the prior town manager of Cary became a wider look at spending across the town of Cary. It was clear this extravagant spending, though, was led by the former town manager."
In an emergency meeting shortly after the audit was released on Thursday, town councilors said Stegall controlled the flow of information and that they acted once senior employees came forward near the end of 2025.
"What I should have said is, 'What the hell are we doing putting our brand on Ray-Ban sunglasses and giving them out at no cost?" Kohn-Johnson said.
After the meeting, town residents told WRAL News that they needed their elected officials to do better.
"We elected our officials. They ultimately made the space they needed to. Mistakes were made, and I think they are doing their best to acknowledge [that]," said Tracey Filomena on Thursday. "I just hope they continue to make things public."
Town leaders have since promised changes after the report. On Monday, the town said it's looking into changing its policy on governing town-issued credit cards.
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