San Mateo County Community College District names new chancellor

I wish Chancellor Claire great success as he faces unprecedented challenges post-pandemic. I, for one, do not think the search was fair as discussed below:

First, there was absolutely no reason to continue the search under shelter-in-place with the college campuses closed. Some districts, like Contra Costa, have elected governance bodies who really understand their job in a democracy, which is to act with transparency and equity (See https://lmcexperience.com/news/2020/04/19/chancellor-search-halted-until-fall/).

The rationale provided by the Board to continue the search under virus conditions was shallow and suggested they did not really care about Equal Employment Opportunity, as the two other individuals had no chance in competition to a well-known internal candidate under these conditions. As a long term academic, I wrote a two-page Public Statement to the Board to suspend the search. Rather than address my rationale point-by-point, they glossed over the issues.

Of course, in normal times, had candidates been invited to the District and spent a day conducting a traditional campus visit at all three colleges and the District office, meeting constituents and conducting forums, they would at least have had the opportunity to be competitive against a favorite-son in the search. To decide on a chancellor via video conferencing, without allowing the campus and county community to vet individuals in-person suggests the Board was not interested in a fair fight.

Compare that to the search done (albeit prior to the pandemic) at Berkeley for its Vice Chancellor of HR. They hired former SMCCCD Vice Chancellor Eugene Whitlock after “nearly 100 people who agreed to meet with the finalists and provide feedback through this search and interview process. There are too many names to list here, but their counsel and guidance were instrumental in achieving this successful search.” (https://news.berkeley.edu/2019/08/15/announcing-berkeleys-new-top-human-resources-administrator/).

That seems like a thorough vetting; in contrast, SMCCCD hires a chancellor with a process that, as a cognitive psychologist and former SMCCCD administrator, no doubt was subject to both implicit and explicit bias. (I am not aware of the reason for Whitlock’s departure from SMCCCD; I was told by Galatolo that he filed the harassment suit with the DA).

Finally, as Chancellor of Berkeley, Dr. Carol Crist’s salary is $531,939. SMCCCD paid Galatolo a little less, $467,700 plus benefits and is still paying him that salary as “Chancellor Emeritus” to do nothing until March of 2022. That is 12% less than Berkeley’s chancellor and $100,000+ more than other district chancellors. Wow! I am sorry, those jobs have the same title, but the responsibilities are incomparable. An investigation as to why the Board paid Galatolo so much money would not be unwarranted. Further, why did the Board relieve him of duties for issues in their employment relationship then rehire him as chancellor emeritus with an extended contract totaling $1.2 million. Inquiring minds want to know.

Ya gotta ask whether the DA should also be investigating the SMCCCD Board of Trustees for failing to fulfill their fiduciary responsibility and poor stewardship of taxpayer dollars. Are there skeletons in their closet?