BY GARTH STAPLEY

Modesto Focus

Both top StanCOG employees caught up in a corruption scandal have left the embattled transportation agency, members of its policy board have confirmed.

Cindy Malekos, second in command when Stanislaus civil grand jurors posted a blistering report in June, retired earlier this week rather than face the possibility of discipline or termination, StanCOG policy board members told The Modesto Focus.

Her exit comes six weeks after the Stanislaus Council of Governments’ policy board fired executive director Rosa De Leon Park in the wake of a grand jury report calling into question both employees’ vacation payouts and travel expenses.

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The two were StanCOG’s only employees benefiting from a mysterious change in vacation terms granting Malekos 10 weeks of vacation, and Park 11 weeks, and allowing them to cash out whatever they didn’t use, the grand jury found.

Members of the policy board, composed of elected officials from Stanislaus County and its nine cities, have said they never approved the new vacation policy. Its rules could have allowed Park to cash out as much as $55,000 a year.

The grand jury also questioned Park’s stays at luxury hotels, first-class flights, and a pontoon boat rental, all on the public dime.

A J.P. Morgan Chase Bank credit card in Malekos’ name was responsible for $121,368 in spending over the past five years, according to a Modesto Focus analysis of financial records. Of that total, nearly $25,000 went toward travel, including $19,278 for hotels, the records show, and she also spent $906 on gift cards.

Malekos was not reached for comment. Whether she had covered expenses for others in her position as head of administrative services could not be immediately determined.

The policy board voted Wednesday to cancel the excessive vacation policy, which reverted to another approved in 2021 capping vacation at five weeks for StanCOG’s longest serving employees.

StanCOG has retained an independent consultant to investigate the agency’s finances and travel. A report is expected to take several weeks.

Meanwhile, another longtime employee appointed as interim executive director when Park was fired has also retired. 

The policy board on Wednesday thanked Elizabeth Hahn, who briefly joined the meeting via Zoom. Succeeding her with the same title – interim executive director – is Jean Foletta, who had been serving as operations deputy director.

The policy board also on Wednesday approved an official response to the grand jury report. StanCOG refused to provide a copy of the response for public inspection and input before the vote was taken at 9:42 p.m., just after the board met in closed session to discuss “potential litigation.”