Update: Cary mayor addresses consulting work, former town manager's actions

Cary Mayor Harold Weinbrecht is defending his work as a consultant for a private company that does business with the town, in a blog post updated Sunday.

It comes after the resignation of Town Manager Sean Stegall, who was forced out by the town council amid concerns regarding over-spending and a lack of transparency. Media investigations have focused attention on land purchases near downtown Cary, as well as a conference Stegall and other town employees attended in Texas in 2023.

Public records recently released by the town show Weinbrecht was also at that conference — but not in his capacity as Cary's mayor, rather as a consultant for engineering firm WithersRavenel.

The Cary-based business bids for work for many different towns, including Cary, where it has recently won contracts to help build the $68 million Downtown Cary Park and other projects.

Newly released emails show Weinbrecht inviting Stegall and half a dozen other town staffers to two dinners hosted by WithersRavenel during that Texas conference, called the ICMA. It's unclear how many of the staffers, if any, actually attended.

"As a consultant for WR (WithersRavenel) I will also be attending," Weinbrecht wrote in his now-public email to the Cary staffers, inviting them to the dinners. "My role will be to interact with as many attendees as possible. Part of the WR activities during our time at ICMA is to invite attendees to dinner to further our relationships. We would love it if you could find time to attend one or both."

In his blog post, Weinbrecht said he didn't violate any conflict-of-interest rules with that interaction. He dismissed it as a last-minute, informal overture and said that in his paid consulting work for the firm, he avoids involvement in any of the firm's business related to Cary.

"There were not enough prospective clients available to fill a dinner table that had been reserved," Weinbrecht wrote in his blog. "The marketing team asked me to reach out to Cary representatives to see if they would be interested in attending, which I did. That was the extent of my involvement."

In October 2022, 12 months before that Texas conference, WithersRavenel boasted on its website: "Downtown Cary bustling with WithersRavenel projects" after it won bids for multiple local public and private sector projects, including work on the massive new Downtown Cary Park. Within months, the company would hire Weinbrecht as a consultant. State ethics forms show he started working for the firm sometime in 2023. Weinbrecht has been the mayor of Cary since 2007.

Unlike in the federal government, politicians in North Carolina don't have to disclose how much money they make from businesses or investments. But Weinbrecht, who had previously retired after a long career at software company SAS, said on his blog that WithersRavenel paid him roughly $24,000 each in 2023 and 2024, and that he expects to make less in 2025.

He said the company pays him, on an hourly basis, mostly to help consult on how best to sell itself and its services to cities and towns across the country. He added that "I do not do any work for the Town of Cary with WithersRavenel."

Weinbrecht also said he has no intent to resign as mayor and plans to seek reelection in 2027, adding that he has experience leading the town through tough times dating back to the Great Recession two decades ago.

He said he believes he also deserves credit, not blame, for how Stegall's tenure came to an end. "I was the one that brought the information to the entire council which led to the resignation," he wrote.

Land purchases in focus

In an earlier version of the blog post, Weinbrecht shared information about what led up to the Cary town manager being asked to resign.

Weinbrecht said the now-former town manager went around the council to make a large land purchase.

Weinbrecht wrote that Stegall had the authority to spend up to $1 million before needing to go before the town council. According to Weinbrecht, the property Stegall bought exceeded that value. However, he said Stegall split the purchases to avoid crossing the threshold.

“Because the two parcels were acquired through separate contracts, each individual purchase did not exceed that threshold, allowing staff to execute the agreements without bringing them before the Town Council for approval,” Weinbrecht said.

Public records show the town bought one of the parcels of land for $379,000 and the other for $686,000.

The mayor also said he initiated a review of Stegall after learning the town spent more than $25,000 on a councilmember's tuition.

“When I first learned of the tuition expense in October, I immediately questioned the town manager about it,” Weinbrecht said. “At that time, he defended the expenditure, and I was not aware of the full scope of the spending.”

Councilwoman Lori Bush has since paid back that money.

Stegall resigned earlier this month after getting put on administrative leave.

The state auditor's office is now reviewing the situation.

This article was updated Monday, Dec. 29, after Weinbrecht's updated blog post on Dec. 28.