When I interviewed Cary mayor Harold Weinbrecht last week, I asked him what he thinks motivated recently departed former town manager Sean Stegall to purchase land without town council approval, lie about violating Cary’s fund balance policy, foster a negative workplace culture, and in Weinbrecht’s words, “manipulate a lot of people” in town government.
The mayor said he didn’t know. Investigations by the state auditor’s office and the law firm Womble Bond Dickinson may reveal more in time. An initial analysis by the state auditor’s office “indicates potential criminal activity by the former Town Manager,” per a Monday press release; the auditor is working with the Wake County District Attorney’s office and the State Bureau of Investigation on the matter.
Absent other details, for now, the closest we can come to reading Stegall’s mind is to read his book, The Top of the Arc.
The News & Observer first reported that Cary paid upwards of $100,000 to ghostwrite, publish, and market The Top of the Arc, which came out last August. The book charts Stegall’s accomplishments and his approach to municipal government leadership. Post-resignation, some passages don’t really hold up.
In the preface, Stegall shared that he worked with a ghostwriter—identified in public records released to the INDY as Seth Kaufman—who conducted “hours of interviews” with town leaders to learn more about Stegall.
“My collaborator has discussed me behind my back, with my blessing,” Stegall wrote. “He asked people for criticism on or off the record. He didn’t get as much as either of us hoped. Apparently, I’m not very controversial in Cary. The lack of controversy may prove bad for book sales, but it gives me confidence about my performance as town manager.”
I asked Kaufman how much of the book he wrote and whether his interviews revealed any inkling of Stegall’s misconduct. He declined to comment.
In a chapter titled “How to Be a Good Town Manager,” Stegall described going above and beyond to develop good relationships with each town council member.
“I was being empathetic. But I was also being strategic,” he wrote. “I was keeping a potential opponent to [the project he was working on] close. In this light, good people skills are good political skills.”
That strategy worked for Stegall until it didn’t. Last week, Weinbrecht told me he believed Stegall was his friend and probably overlooked some red flags.
According to the public records, Cary paid Kaufman $50,000 for his work, plus up to $5,000 for expenses. The town also paid about $37,000 to Radius Book Group, an independent publisher, and spent $7,000 on a two-page advertisement in Public Management magazine, among other marketing expenses. As of mid-December, Cary had sold 117 copies for $21.99 each and given away 228 more.
I asked Cary marketing staff who approved the spending on Stegall’s book and how the ghostwriting and publishing costs compare to other town marketing expenses. They did not respond by our deadline.
At last week’s town council meeting, a series of public commenters sharply criticized Cary leaders’ insufficient oversight of Stegall.
“The total amount of my and fellow taxpayers’ hard-earned [money] that has been questionably spent or worse is being tabulated as we speak,” Cary resident Elliot Tardif said. “The lack of oversight, communication, leadership, and accountability by this town’s elected leaders is stunning. Regardless of whose duties are whose … the buck is supposed to stop with you all. But the record has shown that under your watch, the bucks are free-range.”
A version of this story ran in the January 13 edition of The Line.