Cary residents call for town council's replacement in first public meeting after audit

Cary's leaders are set to hold their first regular meeting Thursday evening since a state audit raised questions about the town's tax dollar spending.

The meeting at Cary Town Hall was among the first chances the public will have to speak directly to Cary's leaders since the audit's release. Some residents called for a recall election to replace leaders, who they believed had ignored a responsibility to address Cary's financial troubles earlier.

"I with the legislature would respond by passing a local act to allow a recall election to remove those officials in 2021, 2024 and 2025 who were complicit by accepting expensive dinners, car services, tuition and so much more," said Marie Inserra, which brought cheers from residents in attendance.

"I don't agree with Republicans often, but the State Auditor nailed it."

Tax professional Michael Anderson has clients in Cary and said he wanted to speak out after findings from the North Carolina State Auditor's Office flagged "questionable" expenses using town funds. 

Some of the purchases include more than $65,000 for a ghostwriter to pen a book about former town manager Sean Stegall. A more than $34,000 price tag for a documentary-style video about how a dance routine with town staff to the ABBA song "Dancing Queen" came to be at a 2024 retreat. The video included interviews with more than a dozen town officials. 

"I'm asking everyone in that 'Dancing Queen' video to resign," Anderson said. "If nobody stands up to these small-town councils that are wasting tax dollars, it's going to blow out of control."

Hanif Williams, another Cary resident, said that while Stegall should be held accountable, he didn't believe that Stegall was the only person at fault for Cary's financial problems.

"I adamantly object to the myth being propagated that the substance of the investigation can be placed entirely on the former town manager," Williams said. "Placing all responsibility on one employee would be a broad leap of epic proportions. We should call him 'King Sean,' because he had unilateral authority that we have never seen before."

A Town of Cary spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the expected resignation calls or pushback to the video. 

Leaders at Thursday's meeting are reviewed findings from a town-funded review by the law firm Womble Bond Dickinson, which revealed operation failures under Stegall. 

In a response to the state audit investigative report, Cary officials said Stegall created a lack of transparency that "left the full Council without the same knowledge and understanding of key decisions..."

Meanwhile, Cary council members are set to consider an anti-retaliation policy at Thursday's meeting, which would implement protections for town employees who report misconduct in good faith, according to town officials. 

It's among the nearly 40 recommendations from three reviews of the Cary's financial practices that the town has listed on its "Moving Forward" webpage and says it is working to implement.