By Garth Stapley

The Modesto Focus

The Hughson City Council on Monday slapped Mayor George Carr with a second censure for lewd behavior, then went behind closed doors to discuss two lawsuits brought by women accusing him of inappropriate physical contact.

The latest of the lawsuits was filed by former City Clerk Ashton Gose, who was fired after reporting various allegations against Carr of a sexual nature, including that the mayor had grabbed her buttocks while they posed for a photo, according to the legal complaint.

Carr accepted partial responsibility Monday while telling his colleagues on the council that he felt a second censure was unnecessary.

The Modesto Focus reached him by telephone Tuesday, but the call dropped and he did not respond to subsequent calls and messages.

Vice Mayor Randy Crooker – also for a second time – on Monday called on Carr to resign, and the mayor ignored him.

The council voted 3-0 Monday to censure Carr again, this time for lewd conduct toward female employees of StanRTA, or Stanislaus Regional Transit Authority, an agency he chaired before resigning in December during an investigation into his behavior.

Employees of StanRTA, which runs a bus system throughout Stanislaus County, accused Carr of kissing and touching a worker during a conference in Anaheim in 2024, and telling sex-based jokes in 2025.

‘I don’t think I ever did that,’ mayor tells Modesto Focus

In an exclusive interview, Carr in early September told The Modesto Focus he exhibited “poor judgment” while disputing some findings of lewd behavior investigations.

Independent investigations commissioned by StanRTA and by Hughson City Hall both sustained sexual harassment allegations against Carr.

Abstaining from Monday’s vote were Carr and Councilmember Susana Vasquez, whose public accusation that Carr had sexually harassed her led to the council’s first censure against the mayor in May. She also sued the city.

Just before Monday’s vote, Carr insisted that he “did serve admirably” as chair of the StanRTA board.

“All this, in my opinion, is an unnecessary process,” Carr told the council. “I’ve already been censured once. I was removed from my committees. I just felt this is technically a waste of the city attorney’s time and processes. I have admitted to what actions were taken, I’ve accepted responsibility and when I was presented with (options) I voluntarily stepped away, knowing it was the right thing to do, and they said the matter was closed.”

After the vote, Vasquez said to those in the meeting chamber, “I got so much backlash from the mayor and his spouse over social media. I was basically called a liar. It got real nasty. I do not deserve that. Nobody deserves that for speaking the truth.”

Unwanted physical contact by Hughson mayor, lawsuits say

In her recent lawsuit against the city, Vasquez alleged that in two incidents in 2025, Carr placed his hand on her thigh, put his hand in her back pocket, and made comments about her appearance while gesturing toward her chest.

A judge last week ruled that Vasquez did not sue within six months of the alleged abuse as required by law, effectively closing the lawsuit.

In addition to Gose’s duties as city clerk, she also served as the council’s executive assistant. Her lawsuit says that Carr:

• “Gripped” Gose’s buttocks as they posed for a photo in October 2022.
• Approached Gose alone before a council meeting in November 2021 saying he was looking for the “hot young blonde single mom at the dais.”
• Asked Gose on her birthday in 2022 “how many spankings she was going to receive that night for her birthday.”

Instead of documenting Gose’s reports or taking corrective action to investigate, the city manager fired her, says the lawsuit. It was filed on behalf of Gose in late August by the law firm of Goyette, Ruano & Ulmer, in Stanislaus Superior Court.

In her lawsuit, Gose names Hughson and Carr as defendants and seeks unspecified damages for alleged sexual harassment, hostile workplace environment, whistleblower retaliation, and failure to prevent harassment and retaliation.

Dominique Romo became Hughson’s city manager in 2024 and fired Gose in January 2026 – nine days after Gose detailed Carr’s alleged behavior to an investigator looking into Vasquez’s accusations, the lawsuit says.

“At the time of her termination, (Gose) had not received a written reprimand, formal disciplinary notice, or written performance warning,” the lawsuit says.

Romo said Tuesday she had no comment on Gose’s lawsuit.

The council gave City Attorney Andy Pinasco authority in closed session to defend Hughson against Gose’s lawsuit, and took no reportable action in the matter of Vasquez’s failed lawsuit, Romo said.

Carr is among two Stanislaus County mayors currently facing discipline from their own councils. In Patterson, Mayor Mike Clauzel faces possible censure after the city’s Rules Committee moved forward with an official reprimand stemming from allegations of unethical behavior.

Garth Stapley is the accountability reporter for The Modesto Focus, a project of the nonprofit Central Valley Journalism Collaborative. Contact him at garth@themodestofocus.org.