Ruth Coleman, California parks director, resigns following scandal

SACRAMENTO — The director of California's state parks system resigned Friday after officials discovered that her department had $54 million in unspent money in its accounts that it had not reported to the state finance department.
Ruth Coleman, who had led the agency since 2003, stepped down, and the department's second-in-command, Acting Deputy Director Michael Harris, was fired.
California Resources Secretary John Laird planned a 1 p.m. news conference to address the issue and issued a statement saying the state Attorney General's Office would be investigating.

In an interview with the San Jose Mercury News on Friday, Coleman said she did not know about the accounting problems until several days ago.
Go here for the full story. See the resignation letter below.