The Stanislaus Council of Governments’ executive director has been accused by the Stanislaus County Grand Jury of spending public money on lavish hotels, first-class airfare, and exorbitant car rentals, as well as creating a chaotic work environment.
In the report released Thursday, Stockton resident Rosa De Leon Park, who was not called out by name in the report but has served as executive director since 2015, is said to have spent $100,000 on rental cars in a three-year span, driving 7,000 miles in a single month — “more than the distance from San Francisco to New York City and back,” the report said.
In one instance, Park chose to fly from Sacramento to a conference in Monterey, with a layover in Los Angeles.
“The drive would have been faster, especially since the taxpayers were already paying for the rental of a 2022 Mercedes-Benz GLC300,” the grand jury reported.
Park’s government-issued credit card was used to book stays at Ritz-Carlton hotels seven times in Washington D.C., three times in Chicago, twice in Southern California, and once in Atlanta, totaling more than $33,000 over 39 nights.
At a February 2024 conference in the nation’s capital, hotel rates were $309 per night at the Hyatt Capitol Hill, which hosted the event, compared to the Ritz-Carlton’s rate of $600 per night.
Park is also said to have regularly flown first class and upgraded tickets for certain members of the StanCOG policy board.
Additionally, during a seven-month period, $10,000 in expenses — 62 separate transactions — were charged to Park’s official credit card with no receipts submitted, the report stated.
“The grand jury report has many troubling findings,” said Stanislaus County Supervisor Vito Chiesa, a StanCOG policy board member who represents Turlock. “The board is committed to transparency and doing a full investigation, and will probably implement many of the grand jury’s recommendations.”
Those recommendations include abolishing Park’s position, hiring a director of financial services, adding the county’s auditor-controller to its operations, closer oversight of expenditures, and better record keeping.
First-term Turlock City Councilmember Erika Phillips, appointed to the policy board in January, said she’s still trying to collect information.
“It all comes down to accountability for me,” Phillips said. "I believe people should be held accountable for their actions.”
Park, in salary and benefits, earns more than $484,000 annually. That’s about $85,000 more than the San Joaquin Council of Governments’ executive director ($399,194), about $140,000 more than the executive director in Sacramento County, nearly $200,000 more than Fresno County’s, and over $200,000 more than executive directors in Merced, Kern, and Tulare counties, according to the report.
Of those counties, Stanislaus has the smallest staff size (14), one-fourth the size of Sacramento (61).
Former employees were interviewed about Park’s workplace demeanor, and complaints included: humiliating staffers during meetings, name-calling, and divulging protected information from employee personnel files. Some staffers admitted to crying inside and outside the office, having nightmares, and seeking therapy and medication, all unique to their tenure with StanCOG.
The investigation started with a citizen complaint in 2024.
Efforts to contact Park were unsuccessful, though StanCOG’s policy board issued a statement on Thursday.
“We are currently reviewing the findings and recommendations in full and are preparing a detailed formal response, as required within the 90-day response period,” the statement read. “What the civil grand jury found is deeply troubling. We are a public agency that is trusted to safeguard taxpayer dollars and deliver results for our community. This alleged level of waste and mismanagement demands immediate action.”
StanCOG’s board is calling for a workforce investigation and an independent forensic audit, implementation of a strict fiscal accountability framework, re-evaluation of the policy board’s oversight responsibilities, a review of executive management, and the creation of an ad hoc committee to oversee the workforce investigation and forensic audit.
Supervisor Buck Condit (District 1), the board policy chairman, announced that Newman Mayor Casey Graham has been named the chair of the ad hoc. He’ll be joined on the body by Waterford Mayor Charlie Goeken, Supervisor Mani Grewal (District 4), Supervisor Terry Withrow (District 3), and Phillips.
“I think it’s a good group that is going to get some answers,” said Condit. “These allegations trouble us deeply, but we want to verify that these things occurred and that we have the correct information so we can earn back the trust of the community and taxpayers.”
The report overshadowed Friday’s announcement that Park and her team secured $85 million in California Transportation Commission funds for three separate projects — the Highway 132 West Project ($67 million), the Seventh Street Bridge Replacement Project ($15 million), and the Church Street Mobility Enhancement Project ($3 million).
Established in 1971, StanCOG is a council of city and county governments, comprising Turlock, Ceres, Hughson, Modesto, Newman, Oakdale, Patterson, Riverbank, Waterford, and Stanislaus County to address regional transportation issues.
To view the entire grand jury report, visit www.stanislaus.courts.ca.gov/divisions/grand-jury/final-reports and click on the link for the 2024-25 final report.
