Update: Stanislaus agency has new leader, 9 months after critical grand jury probe
Amber Collins won a 13-1 vote Wednesday night to be the next executive director of the Stanislaus Council of Governments.
The decision came about nine months after a civil grand jury accused predecessor Rosa De Leon Park of lavish spending and rude treatment of her staff.
Collins will start at an annual salary of $265,000 on a three-year contact. She is the transportation planning manager for the Mark Thomas consulting firm in Sacramento. She led the Calaveras Council of Governments before that.
Collins sat in the audience during the entire StanCOG meeting. She stepped to the podium after her contract was approved near the end.
“I’m really excited to represent this region,” Collins said. “Nothing but full excitement to get to work.”
Collins grew up in Colusa County. She has master’s degrees in engineering and in city and regional planning from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
Collins will take over March 30 from interim director Kate Miller, a Napa-based consultant hired in November. The StanCOG board had fired Park in August, about six weeks after the report’s release.
StanCOG oversees road and transit funding in the county. The governing board has all five county supervisors, three Modesto City Council members and one member each from the smaller cities.
Supervisor Channce Condit dissented on the hiring. He said he has long felt that the executive director’s duties could be handled by county and city staff members. “I do just inherently believe that this is an extra layer, a waste of tax dollars,” Condit said.
He also spoke to the furor over Park: “Obviously, all of our confidence in this organization was severely rattled. Mine, obviously, has not recovered.”
StanCOG handles money from state and federal sources and the county’s Measure L sales tax. Its current top priority is extending the Highway 132 bypass farther west from Modesto.
The agency last year helped secure money to replace the Seventh Street Bridge. The project had a lively groundbreaking earlier Wednesday.
StanCOG has about 20 employees, including in road and transit planning and finance. The agency helps the county and cities present a united front when seeking state and federal money.
A news release from StanCOG said more than 100 people applied for the job. Riverbank Mayor Rachel Hernandez chaired the screening committee.
“Amber was the obvious standout,” she said. “... She has the credentials and leadership skills which are pivotal at this time for the agency.”
Supervisor Buck Condit, who chairs the full governing board, also praised the hiring. “Amber is the right person to fill this position,” he said. “She is intelligent and thoughtful and will be a great asset to the agency and the community.”
The grand jury alleged that Park spent public funds on high-end rental cars, hotels and other travel expenses and personal purchases. The report said her treatment of the staff resulted in high turnover at the agency.
The report questioned why Park’s vacation time rose from five to nine weeks per year. Collins will get three weeks, plus 90 hours of paid “executive leave.” Her annual car allowance is $5,000.
