Galatolo trial finally begins

“Mr. Galatolo is a larger-than-life leader,” Smith said. “He took a district of crumbling campuses and transformed them.” 

The District Attorney’s Office is arguing a starkly different view of the events that transpired during Galatolo’s 18-year tenure as chancellor, presenting him as a man who enjoyed luxuries and friendships at the expense of ethical boundaries. 

During his chancellorship, Galatolo accepted luxury gifts like tickets to the Super Bowl and the NBA Finals, tickets for his daughter to see Kanye West in concert and first-class plane tickets to Dubai from the same contracting principals whose firms he had allegedly prioritized for building contracts, Deputy District Attorney Joseph Cannon said. 

“This is a case about greed,” Cannon said. “This is a case about dishonesty. This is a case about corruption.” 

Galatolo is being charged with nine counts of perjury for allegedly failing to disclose the gifts, many of which were bestowed upon him by the construction company Allana, Buick & Bers and its CEO, Karim Allana — who obtained six contracts worth $7 million total with the district from 2014 to 2019, Cannon said. 

But Smith is arguing that Galatolo disclosed the gifts he was required to. Many were not required for disclosure, he said, as they were reciprocal exchanges between friends, with Galatolo repaying with items of similar value. 

There was nothing illegal about Galatolo’s friendships with district vendors like Allana and those friendships were unrelated to them receiving contracts, Smith maintained. From 2013 to 2014, the time period in which Galatolo is accused of misusing public funds by delineating two specific building contracts to friends, his reportable gifts from the companies in question totaled less than $200 — far from a material impact, he said. 

“Gifts that are reciprocated — ‘I’ll get dinner this time, you get dinner this time,’ — are not reportable,” Smith said. 

The two specific building contracts in question, around which much of the trial will revolve, were for Cañada College’s solar panel project and Building 23, respectively, both of which are now finished. 

The DA’s Office will be bringing a bevy of witnesses to the stand to prove that the district’s contract selection committee had made an original choice of contractor in both cases, but was allegedly pressured by Galatolo — via former Vice Chancellor Jose Nuñez — to restore the applicants and select contractors with whom he had a personal relationship, Cannon said. 

The solar contract was eventually awarded to Allana, Buick & Bers, and the Building 23 contract was awarded to another firm the DA’s Office is tying to Galatolo, McCarthy Building Companies. 

Nuñez, who previously pleaded no contest to two felony counts of using the community college district’s resources for political purposes and committed to testifying against Galatolo in exchange for probation, will be one of the DA’s Office’s star witnesses. 

Other former members of the selection committee, who claim to have changed their scores after facing pressure to do so, will also testify, Cannon said, alleging Galatolo’s inappropriate behavior resulted in financial losses for the district and unfair contract awards. 

“This was a misuse of public funds,” he said. 

Smith pushed back on these allegations, pointing to the fact that both Allana, Buick & Bers and McCarthy Building Companies’ bids were the lowest and both contractors produced on-time, on-budget projects that benefited the community. 

“This is corruption? This is misuse?” he queried. “They were on time and on budget.” 

He also drew into question the validity of several witnesses, all of whom had been granted immunity in return for their testimony — Nuñez, in particular, had changed his story after being offered the plea deal, Smith said.

He also preemptively questioned the upcoming testimony of Galatolo’s ex-wife, Lore Lehr, whom he described as a woman who had previously lied in formal judicial records with “an ax to grind” against Galatolo. 

Cannon said in his opening argument to the jury that per her testimony, when Lehr expressed concerns with Galatolo’s travels and transaction expenses with friends, he’d responded, “It’s good to be king.” 

Cannon also brought up several miscellaneous examples of Galatolo engaging in what he termed “private corruption,” including two allegations of evading registration fees when purchasing expensive cars and one allegation of tax evasion on his Maui rental property. 

Galatolo also wrote off a $10,000 donation the district made to fire relief efforts in Santa Rosa as a private donation and illegally charged the district $46,619 in legal fees when he hired a lawyer to negotiate the terms of his retirement after the district decided not to move forward with renewing his contract, Cannon said. 

While Galatolo made a “mistake” in writing off the fire relief donation, Smith said, allegations of tax evasion on the Maui property are completely illegitimate and will be disproven throughout the course of the trial, he said. Smith also argued that Galatolo was following precedent in charging the district for his legal fees, and believed and was told he was within his rights to do so. 

Ultimately, it will be up to 12 jurors to decide what version of Galatolo is the truth — a corrupt public official exploiting professional contracts for personal gain, or a leader with deep ties to the community promoting public good by successfully developing new buildings for community college students. 

The trial is expected to end by January, San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said previously.