Leticia Dias, the finance director for the city of Ceres, has been placed on administrative leave and the reason for the action remains a mystery.

Because the act of placing an employee on administrative leave is a personnel matter, City Manager Doug Dunford won’t say what led to the sudden departure.

Dunford said he’s temporarily overseeing the finance department until the City Council decides the next step.

Dias was first hired by Ceres in August 1994 and remained over 22 years within the finance department until she left leave to work for the city of Oakdale where she was accounting manager from April 2017 to April 2019. She was appointed as finance director in April 2020 as a replacement to Suzanne Dean.

Her last appearance at a council meeting was on August 23.