Former Amador County Supervisor and recent Calaveras Community Development Director Stephanie Moreno has been pushed to resign amid allegations of misconduct and creating gridlock in her department. The controversy became the centerpiece of recent Supervisors meetings and raised questions about both the Board’s hiring procedures and Moreno’s credibility. Moreno, who was employed in Amador County under her previous name of D’Agostino, was criticized in a recent grand jury report for “confrontational behavior”, “lacking the technical skills and sufficient related experience to successfully perform her job”, and mismanaging county funds, among a number of other accusations.
County Administrative Officer Bob Lawton this afternoon announced that Moreno was resigning from her 118,000 dollar a year job effective August 1st. The grand jury’s findings divided the Calaveras Supervisors through heated arguments in recent board meetings. Supervisor Tom Tryon has accused three other Supervisors of conspiring to protect Moreno and holding a calculated opposition against the grand jury. “They weren't interested in fact finding, they were interested in undoing the grand jury report,” Tryon said. Supervisor Wilensky has fired back with references to Tryon’s continued opposition to hiring Moreno. In the end, the Board voted 4 to 1 to accept Moreno’s resignation during a special meeting late Friday, with Supervisor Tryon opposed. Moreno’s resignation comes after years of complaints from builders and contractors who say she continually stood in the way of them doing their job.