BY GARTH STAPLEY
CV Journalism Collaborative
StanCOG’s corruption saga staggered on with this week’s revelation that secret, unapproved vacation cashouts by three top employees cost county taxpayers more than $595,000 in less than five years.
A subheadline in a new civil grand jury report did not mince words: “Vacation policy used as a cash machine instead of its intended benefit.”
The report, released late Wednesday, finally quantifies the most egregious self-dealing accusation leveled at Stanislaus Council of Governments employees in a previous bombshell grand jury report issued a year ago.
Former Executive Director Rosa De Leon Park spent tens of thousands of dollars of taxpayer money on luxury hotels, first-class airline tickets and high-end car rentals, the first report found.
She also went behind the StanCOG Policy Board’s back to increase her vacation and to cash out whatever wasn’t used, the 2024-25 grand jury found – without pinpointing at that time exactly how much that unapproved perk cost taxpayers.
The self-dealing was confirmed in the executive summary report of an independent investigation commissioned by the policy board.
That document was exclusively obtained and reported by The Modesto Focus, which also revealed that the scandal is now under criminal investigation by authorities.
The investigation “is moving along good, going very well,” said Terry Seese, chief investigator with the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s office. “There’s just a lot of stuff to go through and it takes a lot of time,” he said, declining to say when it might wrap up.
Bottom of Form
The executive summary found that Park’s abuse of travel expenses from July 2021 through April 2024 amounted to more than $68,000.
StanCOG coordinates regional transportation planning and tens of millions of dollars in funding each year for Stanislaus County and its nine cities. Its policy board is composed of elected representatives from the county board of supervisors and each of the cities.
New report puts a dollar amount on formerly revealed abuse
This week’s 2025-26 grand jury report suggests that the value of the unapproved vacation cashouts – $595,242 for three top employees, including Park – far exceeds the travel expense abuse formerly reported.
Following tradition, the new grand jury report does not name names but does specify positions – in this case the executive director, administrative assistant and deputy planning director.
Holding those positions respectively were Park, Cindy Malekos and Elizabeth Hahn.
When the policy board fired Park for cause in August 2025, Hahn was appointed as interim executive director – until she abruptly retired the following month. Malekos also resigned in September rather than face discipline or termination, policy board members told The Modesto Focus.
Park’s attorney has not responded to calls, and none of the three former employees were reached for comment.
The three took 8.4 days of recorded vacation combined over nearly five years, or the equivalent of less than one day a year each, the new grand jury report says. But they received the vacation cashouts despite StanCOG policy requiring that workers use up their vacation each year and allowing cashouts only upon leaving the agency, the report says.
The policy board – and by extension, everyone monitoring its meetings – didn’t know about the self-dealing because supporting records were not shared in meeting packets, the new report says.
How much did they know and when did they know it?
But the grand jury’s new report still leaves some questions unanswered. Did the policy board know the public had been scammed to the tune of $596,000 in vacation abuse alone? And if so, why not share that information – in the spirit of transparency and accountability – with the public when the policy abuse was revealed?
For fear of running afoul of the law, several policy board members contacted by The Modesto Focus on Thursday were reluctant to discuss issues:
- Subject to the criminal investigation
- Related to personnel matters
- Discussed in closed session
Some described disputes among policy board members trying to sort through the mess, last year and currently. One faction favors full disclosure with the public and authorities, they say, while others hope that public outrage will blow over.
Is allowing the grand jury to continue the drip-drip of pertinent information a sound approach?
The policy board is dealing with more trouble of its own, with the recent exit of Hughson Mayor George Carr who was serving as the executive committee’s vice chairman.
His own council publicly censured him in late May for unwanted physical contact toward Councilwoman Susana Vasquez, and yanked the mayor from four boards and committees including the StanCOG policy board.
A new vice chairman should be voted on at the policy board’s June 17 meeting, while Hughson Councilman Alan McFadon has taken over Carr’s duties on the policy board.
StanCOG making progress, little by little, spokesman says
Buck Condit – a county supervisor and chairman of the StanCOG policy board – said Thursday, “We fixed a lot of issues and we’re moving forward now, I don’t care if it’s an inch a day.”
The agency issued a release reading, “The issues identified in previous reports do not define StanCOG’s future. Instead, they have served as a catalyst for meaningful change and a renewed focus.”
The Stanislaus County Taxpayer Association, formed in the wake of last year’s revelations, also issued a release late Wednesday.
“We applaud the jury for following up last year’s report with this in-depth examination of this particularly costly abuse of power,” the group’s Nick Dokoozlian said.
When the scandal came to light a year ago, Condit acknowledged shame shared by StanCOG’s elected representatives.
“That definitely was a leg sweep,” he said Thursday, “and it’s heart-breaking that we’re still talking about this stuff. Not everyone’s going to be happy, but we’re doing the best we can.
“We did have egg on our face,” Condit continued, “but we’ve got to get through it moving forward and make StanCOG better than it was.”
