Stanislaus COG Director on Paid Leave Pending Investigation Into Lavish Spending, Pay, Abuse of Staff

Stanislaus COG Places Director on Paid Leave at $25k a Month Pending Investigation Into Lavish Spending, Pay, Abuse of Staff

MODESTO- Rosa De León Park, executive director of the Stanislaus Council of Governments is under investigation following the release of a Grand Jury report on June 25. Park is on paid leave, receiving $25,000 a month. 

The Stanislaus County Civil Grand Jury report accuses Park of excessive spending and poor treatment of her staff. StanCOG, for short,  oversees the transportation funding for Stan County and its nine cities. The StanCOG board, made up of local elected officials, voted 11-5 on June 30, to place her on paid leave. 

The 5 who voted NO, felt paid leave was unjustified, and wanted her on unpaid leave. The NO votes were Stan County Supervisors Channce Condit, Terry Withrow, and Mani Grewal; and Oakdale and Patterson City Councilmembers Kayleigh Gilbert and Carlos Roque. 

Supervisor Condit made a motion to put Park on unpaid leave, but it failed because it was out voted for paid leave. 

Those who voted for Park to be paid $25,000 a month while on leave were Buck Condit, County Supervisor Vito Chiesa, Modesto Mayor Sue Zwahlen and Councilmembers Rosa Escutia-Braaten and David Wright; Riverbank Mayor Rachel Hernandez, Ceres Mayor Javier Lopez, Turlock Councilmember Erika Phillips, Newman Mayor Casey Graham, Hughson Mayor George Carr and Waterford Mayor Charles Goeken. 

The report highlighted allegations of dysfunctional leadership that includes “screaming at her staff” and “name calling.”  Park’s lavish spending on the tax payer dime, was also a focus. 

Apparently Park is too good to stay at conference hotels (which are already nice), but instead booked herself into the Ritz-Carlton. Park spent over $33,000 on the luxury hotels. Or rather, tax payers spent $33,000 for her to stay at the Ritz-Carlton while also paying her nearly half a million dollars a year. 

Park’s excessive compensation., which totaled $484,156 in 2022, included a salary of $246,553, $71,447 in “other pay” and $166,156 in benefits. That was $138,000 higher than the compensation for the Sacramento Council of Government's director, who supervises 31 agencies compared to StanCOG only having 17. Sacramento’s annual budget is also twice as large and covers a much larger population. 

Apparently her compensation is the highest of the seven COGs in the Central Valley, despite StanCOG being the smallest with only 14 employees. The Grand Jury recommends eliminating the position altogether. Translation: Park gotta go. 

Park has retained a lawyer from Stockton.