Waste of the Day: “Dancing Queens” In NC

Topline: City employees in Cary, North Carolina spent $24.2 million on their purchasing cards in 2024 and 2025, filled with arguably some of the most bizarre purchases in the recent history of local governance. 

Cary, N.C. staff dance to popular tunes – on taxpayer’s dime

State Auditor Dave Boliek found staff members spent thousands of dollars to film themselves dancing to ABBA songs, and $151,000 to write and promote a book that sold only a handful of copies. They also lost $7,481 from cancelling nonrefundable hotel rooms.

Key facts: During a 2024 staff retreat to nearby Wilmington, employees planned an elaborate lip-syncing contest to the song “Dancing Queen” as a “surprise gift” for then-Town Manager Sean Stegall and the town council. They paid the video production company Digital P Media $86,338 to film the performance and other events during the conference.

“In a spotlight, Town staff danced down a staircase in gold and silver bellbottoms, sunglasses, and white go-go boots,” the audit found. “By the end of the performance, the whole event space was full of dancing retreat participants.”

Stegall enjoyed the performance so much that he asked Digital P Media to produce a 28-minute documentary explaining how his employees prepared for the ABBA performance. The resulting film, “Dancing Queens: A Case Study,” cost nearly $35,000.

Stegall was responsible for even more mismanagement, including publishing a book about his leadership style. Taxpayers spent big to print and promote “The Top of the Arc,” including $65,653 for the ghostwriter who wrote the book in Stegall’s name, according to the audit.

The Town of Cary owns the copyright and any profits from the book — which have been minimal. Only 266 copies were sold as of this May.

A penthouse suite

Stegall also booked a $3,419 penthouse accommodation during a business trip to Austin. He later claimed he lost the receipt and submitted documentation saying the expense was for “multiple staff,” but auditors contacted the hotel and found that no other employees stayed there.

Another group of employees spent $733 for an executive van to drive them 12 miles from their office to a holiday dinner.

Stegall “often encouraged staff to ignore procedures and practices, especially related to travels, meals, and P-card usage, and he personally modeled this behavior,” Boliek claimed in the audit.

Two retiring employees were given $800 iPads as a gift, purchased by taxpayers. Ten Town Council members were gifted $160 pairs of Ray-Ban sunglasses.

Staff also bought a $100 cardboard cutout of Mariah Carey to promote her local concert in 2024, and spent lavishly on steak dinners and other catered meals.

Search all federal, state and local salaries and vendor spending with the world’s largest government spending database at OpenTheBooks.com.

Town manager resigns

Background: Stegall resigned last December. He was making more than $366,000 at the time, according to data obtained by Open the Books in an open records request.

Cary’s annual spending increased by 60% from 2021 to 2025, according to the audit, and its emergency savings account was depleted below the legal minimum. The town increased property taxes by 5% in 2026, and they will increase another 8% next year

Summary: Increased property taxes are often difficult to justify, but funding a staff lip-syncing contest might be one of the absolute worst explanations.

The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com.

This article was originally published by RealClearInvestigations and made available via RealClearWire.