Hearst San Simeon, a California State Historical Monument under the stewardship of the California Department of Parks and Recreation

Roy Stearns is the Deputy Director of Communications at California's Department of Parks and Recreation. He's usually identified as the "spokesperson for the state parks."

Mr. Stearns spoke directly to California Politics Today on Friday to explain the details of his department's dealings with the Neighbors Resource Center, a San Francisco organization alleged to have illegally contributed $125,000 it received from a state grant orchestrated by then-Assemblymember Kevin Shelley to Mr. Shelley's campaign to elect him Secretary of State of California, the position he now holds.

Mr. Stearns was emphatic in pointing out that the money at issue is in no way money from previously-approved (by the voters) park bonds. He said:

"Everybody normally just assumes that maybe these are park bond funds that the public voted for in 2000 and 2002. They are not. At all.

"These are strictly legislative general fund grants from specific members of the legislature to specific organizations that were not a part of our bond program."

Mr. Stearns also explained the relationship between then-Assemblymember Kevin Shelley and the allocation of funds to the Neighbors Resource Center in San Francisco.

When asked by California Politics Today:

"The relationship between Mr. Shelley and this project was that he nominated it for a position on that list of projects that the legislature funded and the governor approved?"

Mr. Stearns replied, "Exactly."

To hear the interview with Park spokesperson Roy Stearns in its entirely, click here.