A second top official at the Stanislaus Council of Governments has left the agency, one month after Executive Director Rosa De León Park was fired following findings in a civil grand jury report.

Cindy Malekos, StanCOG's director of administrative services, has retired. The civil grand jury report outlined more than $100,000 in questionable expenses under Park's leadership, including travel and vacation payouts.

Jurors also found two conflicting versions of the agency's employee handbook: one allowing up to nine weeks of vacation at 12 years of service, the other capping it at five weeks. The report said management could cash out unused vacation twice a year, in Park's case, worth nearly $28,000 every six months.

In a 14-page response, StanCOG said both handbook versions existed, but maintained the more generous policy was never authorized. The agency said the board voted Sept. 17 to restore the 2021 five-week cap and launched an independent investigation into how the unapproved policy was created.

Modesto City Councilman Chris Ricci said the findings highlight the need for reforms.

"We want to make sure that our public servants have good benefits and good salaries, and they're taken care of," Ricci said. "But almost three months of vacation is kind of ridiculous. They need to clean up the organization and finally get it back to where the community can trust it."

StanCOG has not explained how the nine-week version was implemented. The agency said the investigation is still ongoing.