Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Please log in, or sign up for a new account to continue reading.
Thank you for visiting the Daily Journal. We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content.
Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
Your current subscription does not provide access to this content.
Support the Peninsula’s only locally-owned newspaper. Subscribe!
Subscribing annually brings you big savings. We also offer monthly and weekly subscriptions.
Premium Subscription
As low as $8.25 per week
Premium Includes:
-- Access to the Daily Journal’s e-Edition: a digital replica of our daily newspaper including crossword puzzles, games, comics, classifieds and ads. You can download a digital replica of the Daily Journal for offline reading. You can also clip & download articles or images from the e-edition to share with others The most recent 90 issues are available at any given time.
-- Unlimited access to our award-winning online content
-- Commenting access on all stories as a valued member of the DJ community
-- NEW! Access to our online-only digital crossword puzzle. A new puzzle every day, seven days a week!
| Rate | Price | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Year | $99.00 | for 365 days |
| 1 Month | $20.00 | for 30 days |
| 1 Week | $8.25 | for 7 days |
Support the Peninsula’s only locally-owned newspaper. Subscribe!
Subscribing annually brings you big savings. We also offer monthly and weekly subscriptions.
DJ Basic Subscription
As low as $5 per month
Basic includes:
-- Unlimited access to our award-winning online content
-- Commenting access on all stories as a valued member of the DJ community
What you're missing -- Additional features available only with the Premium level:
-- Access to the Daily Journal’s e-Edition: a digital replica of our daily newspaper including crossword puzzles, games, comics, classifieds and ads. You can download a digital replica of the Daily Journal for offline reading. You can also clip & download articles or images from the e-edition to share with others The most recent 90 issues are available at any given time.
-- NEW! Access to our online-only digital crossword puzzle. A new puzzle every day, seven days a week!
All for as low as $8.25 per month.
| Rate | Price | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Year | $60.00 | for 365 days |
| 1 Month | $12.00 | for 30 days |
| 1 Week | $5.00 | for 7 days |
Following recent news exemplifying a lack of or failed internal controls within agencies throughout the county, a civil grand jury report recommends government entities to establish routine evaluations of its financing and operations.
Assessments should be documented and reported to an entity’s governing board to minimize fraud and waste, which the grand jury states is a risk San Mateo County currently faces.
The report references recent news reports as motivation for such investigation, including a former Caltrain manager using taxpayer money to build secret apartments inside two vacant stations, “pay-to-play” schemes involving the community college district, and Broadmoor police officials defrauding the pension system.
“Each of these examples likely reflects a failure of internal controls to prevent or detect fraud and waste,” the report read. “In other words, you ordinarily can’t have a problem with fraud and waste without a failure in internal controls.”
Internal controls seek to provide reasonable assurance about the achievement of an agency’s objectives. To do this, the grand jury recommends each entity to document its organizational risks, address those in an annual assessment, and report results to a governing board. These assessments address accurate financial reporting, effectiveness of ongoing operations, and compliance with relevant laws.
“There are no big or small controls, just controls,” the report said. “Failure in any contributes to public distrust of all.”
While all of the entities surveyed have established internal controls and use external auditors for its evaluation, most do not internally assess these controls or communicate findings. Of the few entities that do assess their internal controls, they do not report those results to governing boards or the public.
Research conducted by the grand jury found audits uncover only about 4% of fraud. Entities should not rely solely on external auditors as part of its internal controls, the report said.
“Increases in efficiency in external audits likely at least partially offset any incremental staff work in conducting management’s assessment,” the report said.
In addition to reducing risks of fraud or waste, the grand jury report states publicly sharing the documented assessments of internal controls will enhance the public’s confidence in such entities. Also, it can increase stakeholders confidence in the reliability of financial reporting.
“If management does not communicate the results of its assessments of internal controls, others may see this as an opportunity to commit fraud or waste government assets,” the report said.
The grand jury confirmed survey responses via interviews with 28 entities from whom it requested responses showing implementation of its recommendations. However, the report suggests each of the outlined recommendations apply to all entities in the county.
(650) 344-5200 ext. 106
(65) 344-5200 ext. 106
Daily Journal staff
{{description}}
Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
Plaza Suite Read morePlaza Suite
Classic, custom & vintage automobiles displayed throughout the day along with music, loc… Read more2025 San Mateo Rotary Car Show
Join us for this family-friendly event, and explore how green buildings can help shape a hea… Read moreGreen Building Tour: Greenprints for a Brighter Future
Join us at the beautiful Burlingame Community Center for a resource fair, free health screen… Read moreBurlingame Senior Showcase
Thomas Morgan said:
Dirk van Ulden said:
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
(3) comments
Fraud and Waste go beyond pure financial means-
In the SMUHAD, the Trustees were defrauded by the prior administration in order to capture and use its power while undermining the legitimacy of the elective body.
The Trustees "fully embraced these lies" and refuses to investigate or take action to disclose the underlying actions and crimes which needed to be addressed.
Superintendent Kevin Skelly abruptly "retired" on January 12, 2022 after receiving a two-year contract extension @ $329,000 per year in August 2021 stating, "I love my job and I'm not going anywhere."
Skelly next became a substitute teacher in the SMUHSD stating that he needed to work to earn his benefits.
Who leaves a guaranteed two-year $658,000 contract to become a substitute teacher?
-It turns out that this was a $40 million real estate loss... and that was just the start.
How many millions of dollars need to be lost before the Grand Jury goes after the Trustees themselves?
Who is Guarding the Guardians?
"Assessments should be documented and reported to an entity’s governing board to minimize fraud and waste, which the grand jury states is a risk San Mateo County currently faces. "-SM Grand Jury
The SMUHSD Board of Trustees and the SM County Counsel's Office have been provided with substantial reports and documentation of negligence and fraud as the SMUHSD administration has "lied to, misled, deceived, and withheld information from the Trustees and the County Counsel.
The Trustees not only ignored these Whistleblower Reports, but then actively participated in the retaliation against the complainant.
The SMUHSD Administration in September 2021 defrauded the Trustees to produce a public document, sent to a state investigative body, which attacked the Whistleblower in order to derail a second investigation on the SMUHSD Superintendents.
The Trustees action in this document and other actions was to facilitate the submission of an significant amount of fraudulent information "submitted under the penalty of perjury" to the state by the administration and a teachers. The Trustees were willing pawns used by their own administrators to defraud the state investigators.
The leveraging of the Trustees by their own administrators was facilitated by the law firm "defending" the administrators from the state investigation. The law firm represents these well paid administrators was funded by the SMUHSD Trustees using tax-payers dollars.
The public's money was being used to defraud the public.
The San Mateo County Counsel represents the Trustees and the people, yet they too were leveraged by the prior administration and enabled these actions.
Concurrent with this a significant amount of other events was the August 2021 SMUHSD debacle of the sale of the Crestmoor Properly.
The properly was evaluated and sold for $125 million.
Crestmoor Sold for $125 million
https://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/crestmoor-campus-sold-for-125-million-in-san-bruno/article_bf949b66-41b2-11eb-aef4-4fa9ba9ade93.html
December 2020- Crestmoor Property sold to DR Horton for $125 million.
July 23, 2021- DR Horton cancels the $125 million contract. The cancelled contract is "discovered" by the San Bruno City Council and disclosed during a meeting. There is no report by the SMUHSD administration to its Trustees or the public.
Zoom of SB Counsel Meeting where the SMUHSD-DR Horton cancelled contract is disclosed.
https://youtu.be/hVmtKPHpxc4?si=p7BBGMm8tr9XkSXc&t=1938
Brown Act Violations-
The August 5 and August 12, 2021, The Closed Session Agendas for the SMUHSD LIST DR Horton as the (active) BUYER @ $125 million for the Cresemoor site when the contracts have been cancelled. This is defrauding the trustees and the public. F
August 12, 2021- at the SAME meeting--SMUHSD Superintendent Kevin Skelly receives a contract extension of $329,000 per year for two years(yet the Trustees know nothing about the cancellation of the Crestmoor sale)
On August 26, 2021, SMUHSD President Griffin announces a "New Exclusive Deal" with Summerville Homes, selling the Crestmoor site for ONLY $85 million.
This is a $40 million reduction in price in a matter of weeks for Crestmoor High School Properly. President Griffin is a partner at at CPA firm and should be able to read a real estate contract that drops from $125 million to $85 million.
Zoom Link of SMUHSD Meeting- Set to Griffin's Announcement
https://www.youtube.com/live/4eAUECntVZ4?si=XjY9Boez4byavsao&t=851
Brown Act Violations-
There were no proper reports in the agendas, announcements, or minutes.
California Public Record Act (CPRA)
The SMUHSD and its Trustees refuse to produce documents requested via a CPRA requests regarding this action or other Board actions related to these events.
-The ONLY reason the SMUHSD got caught in defrauding the public is because of the SM Daily Journal's report of the discovery of the cancelled $125 milliion contract. There are NO other reports of this incident to be found
"Crestmoor housing deal derailed in San Bruno
New agreement in works to develop housing on former high school campus"
https://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/crestmoor-housing-deal-derailed-in-san-bruno/article_d2f5b544-07b1-11ec-9515-23a0e59f5e26.html
The SMUHSD Trustees are fully aware of these facts and issues... yet they have remained silent... except to engage in retaliation upon the Whistleblower.
Where is the public's $40 million?
The SM Grand Jury needs to open an immediate and extensive investigation of the SMUHSD as the Trustees are already aware of the fraud this fraud and the others that have been taken against the Board and the taxpayers.
Unfortunately, the Civil Grand Jury report makes recommendations only. None of the targeted institutions is compelled to take action unless a whistleblower or another insider takes it up with the DA's office. Prior gubernatorial action removed the teeth from the Civil Grand Jury.
Perhaps we could provide internal or external auditors, or department employees, with “incentives”? Whatever fraud or waste they root out they receive a percentage of the amount recovered. A finder’s fee, if you will. I bet this incentive would uncover much more than 4% of fraud. Besides, what good would a governing board do? Their review is after the fact, after the money has been absconded. Meanwhile, as usual, taxpayers are left holding the bag. And now paying for a governing board, to boot.
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
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.