StanCOG board responds to grand jury findings alleging lavish spending, misuse of funds
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- StanCOG board adopts spending limits, seeks reimbursement from ex-director.
- Independent probe reviews unauthorized vacation policy and credit card use.
- Auditor-controller oversight under review as agency updates financial policies.
The Stanislaus Council of Governments’ policy board is formally responding to civil grand jury findings that exposed rampant spending and alleged misuse of public funds by the transportation agency’s former executive director.
The response approved by the board Tuesday night indicates what StanCOG leaders are doing to address the spending scandal and whether they will follow the grand jury’s 29 recommendations.
Former director Rosa De Leon Park was placed on paid leave in late June and was fired Aug. 6 after the grand jury investigation detailed what it called excessive rental car use, costing taxpayers more than $100,000, as well as lavish spending on travel expenses, hotels, conferences and personal items.
According to the 14-page response, the StanCOG board will create a travel policy with spending limits on rental cars, hotels, dinners and other expenses.
The agency will seek full reimbursement from De Leon Park for missing receipts and unauthorized spending. The grand jury investigation pored over Park’s credit card use for a seven-month period, revealing 62 transactions with no receipts, totaling $10,000. That grand jury recommended a Dec. 31 due date for reimbursement. It hasn’t been implemented yet but will be, the StanCOG response says.
The Modesto Bee wasn’t able to reach Park for comment.
Unapproved nine-week vacation allowance was removed
StanCOG still is investigating how an unapproved change in policy increased paid vacation to nine weeks annually for staff with 12 years of service. The unauthorized change allowed Park, an employee for 16 years, to cash unused vacation time twice a year, the grand jury alleged. The vacation cashouts potentially could have been $27,864 every six months, though the grand jury’s report said StanCOG never provided information on actual cashouts.
The response says the policy board followed through with a recommendation to purge a Jan. 1, 2025, entry in the employee manual allowing the nine weeks’ vacation. At its meeting Tuesday, the StanCOG board adopted a change to the handbook reaffirming the five-week vacation allowance the board approved in November 2021.
According to the response, the board began an independent probe that’s looking into how the nine weeks vacation was added to the handbook. “Given the matter is the subject of an active investigation, and related litigation may be commenced, it would be inappropriate for the policy board to comment or disclose information” until the matter becomes public record, StanCOG’s response says.
The increase in vacation allowance also affected administrative services director Cindy Malekos. The veteran StanCOG employee retired this week, a board member said.
StanCOG isn’t sure about a grand jury recommendation to have the county auditor-controller monitor the agency’s spending, which would satisfy concerns the spending binge resulted from lack of internal controls. The Auditor-Controller’s Office has been known for enforcing strict rules on credit card use in Stanislaus County government departments, but adding it to the StanCOG joint powers authority “requires further analysis,” the response says.
The Auditor-Controller’s Office once was part of the StanCOG joint powers authority but was removed in 2017.
StanCOG is a regional transportation planning agency and its 16-member policy board consists of elected officials from Stanislaus County and its nine cities. It administers transportation funds collected countywide through the Measure L sales tax.
Buck Condit, policy board chairman, said Wednesday that a five-member ad hoc committee is continuing to look into the grand jury findings. Some of the recommendations, such as auditor-controller oversight, require more evaluation, he said.
“I have full confidence in our investigative committee,” Condit said. “The goal is to restore credibility to our regional agency and restore (public) confidence. That is the No. 1 priority.”
StanCOG agreed with a finding that Park’s almost constant use of rental cars, including luxury vehicles such as BMWs and Mercedez Benzes, stemmed from vague internal policies and lack of oversight. But the board disagreed with a recommendation to use vehicles from the county motor pool to reduce StanCOG’s rental car expenses, the response says.
A policy justifies use of rental cars for staff or StanCOG officials attending meetings outside the county. The policy board’s ad hoc commitee would prefer to reduce those expenses through stronger oversight and stricter policies over rental car use.
The board’s independant investigation also is delving into “unrestrained education and training expenses” and StanCOG credit card spending by the former executive director and other staff in the last five years. “Recommendations of the independent investigation will be evaluated and implemented in a manner deemed prudent by the policy board,” the response says.
The policy board’s response also says:
- The former executive director wrote a $614 reimbursement check for plane fare for her husband that was charged to the StanCOG credit card.
- The agency will implement a recommendation to hold all employees accountable for adherance to the agency’s credit card rules.
- It disagreed with a recommendation for a system of monthly, quarterly and annual reviews of travel spending, project funds and accounting policies. The agency has hired a consultant for a thorough review and update of financial policies including accounting and travel policies.
- StanCOG is recruiting for a financial services director to oversee accounts and budgets. But the agency is dealing with high demand for qualified staff in California, a limited pool of candidates and rising salary expectations.
- The board wants more information on a grand juror recusal disclaimer. During the grand jury investigation, at least one member of the 2024-25 grand jury attended policy board and committee meetings either virtually or in-person. “We kindly ask the identity of the recused juror be provided to ensure conflict of interest provisions” were followed.
Tuesday, the policy board approved a contract with a recruitment firm to find candidates for the vacant executive director position. The board appointed staff member Jean Foleta to take over temporarily as interim executive director.
This story was originally published September 18, 2025 at 3:40 PM.
