Following a lengthy criminal investigation, former San Mateo County Community College District Chancellor Ron Galatolo is being charged with 21 felonies for alleged mismanagement of district contracts and other financial improprieties.
The San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office announced charges April 7, alleging fraudulent reporting of charitable donations, steering district construction projects as chancellor, failure to disclose gifts from construction firms who had business with the district, and underreporting the purchase price of luxury cars.
“In my observation, somebody who moves to a level of enormous authority sometimes fails to remember the rules apply to everybody. He needs to remember everyone must follow the rules,” San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said Thursday.
According to the DA’s Office investigation, Galatolo directed district construction project contracts to people he received valuable gifts from and with whom he shared financial interests. Gifts included tickets for concerts, sporting events and international travel. One of the alleged deals was a 2014 $4.5 million contract between the San Mateo County Community College District and Allana, Buick and Bers for the Cañada College Solar Photovoltaic Design-Build Project, according to the DA’s Office felony complaint document.
Other mismanaged contracts include a project for the Cañada College Building 23. The timeline for the alleged project misconduct went from 2013 to 2019. The former chancellor also allegedly failed to disclose gifts from construction firms that did business with him.
He is also accused of falsely reporting on his 2017 state income tax return a $10,000 charitable donation to the Santa Rosa Junior College Foundation Fire Relief Fund for students and staff recovering from the Tubbs fire. The DA’s Office said it was the donation was made by the San Mateo County Community College District Foundation. He also allegedly underreported the purchase price of a 1963 Chevrolet Corvette and a 2006 Chevrolet SSR to the California DMV.
Attorney Chuck Smith, who represents Galatolo, said the former chancellor had not violated any laws. While surprised by the number of felony charges, he argued it was not unusual for the District Attorney’s Office to try and add as many charges as possible. He wanted to argue the case before a jury.
“We are looking forward to contesting these charges. We don’t think any of them are valid,” Smith said.
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Wagstaffe said the investigation began after a district employee whistleblower informed the DA’s Office of allegations in April 2019. The district operates three colleges in San Mateo County, Cañada College, College of San Mateo and Skyline College. The investigation included efforts to get statements from district board members, search warrants to get records, dozens of interviews, and additional findings. What started out as an investigation into steering contracts to friends eventually evolved into new violations around tax filings and other financial matters.
Galatolo is scheduled for an April 15 arraignment at 9 a.m. in Redwood City on the felony arrest warrant. If convicted, he could face more than 10 years in jail for the crimes.
Galatolo began as chancellor in 2001 and resigned suddenly in 2019. He was subsequently given a position as a chancellor emeritus and earned roughly $39,000 monthly in an annual baseline contract worth $467,700, slated to expire in 2022. He was placed on administrative leave and had his contract terminated following the start of the investigation in late 2019.
Galatolo is not the only high-ranking SMCCCD employee to face charges. Vice Chancellor of Facilities Jose Nuñez reached a plea agreement Jan. 5 with the DA’s Office to become a prosecution witness in the corruption probe following 15 felony charges in December. He pleaded no contest to two felonies for using the community college district’s resources for political purposes, including the election campaign of district board candidate Tom Mohr and a bond measure providing $388 million in funding for college district capital projects between 2018 and 2020. Nuñez will be sentenced July 15, provided he testifies truthfully in the Galatolo case. Wagstaffe said the information provided by Nuñez was critical in the case.
“He gave a thorough statement, and we do believe it provided important information to get to the bottom of the conduct of Mr. Galatolo,” Wagstaffe said.
Wagstaffe said the District Attorney’s Office did not anticipate filing charges against anyone else beyond Galatolo and Nuñez. However, Wagstaffe did not rule out the possibility if he received new information.
It makes you really wonder how much of this stuff really goes on that isnt caught. My guess is that it happens in every single city in some capacity. The vast majority of people are too greedy not to steal if they know they can get away with it.
LittleFoot – we can only hope that investigative reporters, whistleblowers, and tips from people come forward and notify news outlets. Speaking of which… Kudos to the person who tipped off Dan Noyes regarding the $10million in PPE left out in the rain. Of course, there’s still no real accountability for the loss, but things are looking up, your sewer rates, utility rates, more parcel taxes, etc. After all, SM has to backfill that wasted $10million.
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(3) comments
Did the Board of Trustees fail their stewardship?
It makes you really wonder how much of this stuff really goes on that isnt caught. My guess is that it happens in every single city in some capacity. The vast majority of people are too greedy not to steal if they know they can get away with it.
LittleFoot – we can only hope that investigative reporters, whistleblowers, and tips from people come forward and notify news outlets. Speaking of which… Kudos to the person who tipped off Dan Noyes regarding the $10million in PPE left out in the rain. Of course, there’s still no real accountability for the loss, but things are looking up, your sewer rates, utility rates, more parcel taxes, etc. After all, SM has to backfill that wasted $10million.
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.