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Jose Nuñez
The longtime vice chancellor of facilities for the San Mateo County Community College District has been charged with 15 felonies, the first filings to drop in an ongoing corruption probe centered around former Chancellor Ron Galatolo.
District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe announced the charges against José Nuñez Tuesday, with violations including embezzlement of public money, perjury and use of the college district’s resources for political campaign purposes.
“We’ve been working for the last several months very intently on Nuñez’s case to make sure our assessment of his involvement in all this was thorough and complete before we moved forward,” said Wagstaffe, who said a decision on charges against Galatolo would be coming in January or February.
Nuñez as of Tuesday had been placed on administrative leave, according to a statement from the district. The district will hold a meeting Wednesday for the “discipline/dismissal/release” of a public employee, though officials declined to confirm the meeting’s relation to Nuñez.
Nuñez is set to be arraigned Wednesday in Redwood City.
Prosecutors allege the embezzlement occurred in 2013 and 2014 when Nuñez assisted in the awarding of a construction contract to architectural firm Allana, Buick and Bers to construct the Cañada College solar photovoltaic system project. The perjury charges allege a failure to report “a number of gifts” in 2009-2020.
Wagstaffe said he was not yet ready to discuss why charges were filed against Nuñez ahead of Galatolo, but that an investigation into Galatolo was ongoing.
Documents previously unveiled by the Daily Journal showed that Galatolo allegedly directed district contracts to friends who in return showered him with secret, lavish gifts. The documents also showed that Galatolo privately negotiated with the district a contract for an annuity plan worth at least $1 million. The contract briefly granted him a chancellor emeritus position with a $467,000 salary that lasted from 2019 until February of this year when the Board of Trustees terminated the relationship amid the District Attorney’s Office investigation.
Galatolo worked for 18 years as the district’s chancellor, Nuñez has been with the district for 21 year. The district oversees Skyline College, Cañada College and the College of San Mateo.
“The college district has an unwavering commitment to integrity, transparency, and accountability and supports the district attorney’s goal of ensuring that these standards are met by all public officials.” Ana Maria Pulido, the district’s director of public affairs, said in a statement. “The college district has cooperated with the investigation, and will continue to be available to the District Attorney’s Office.”
(650) 344-5200, ext. 105
(650) 344-5200, ext. 105
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Dirk van Ulden said:
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(1) comment
These long standing financial scandals involving fraud deserve more elucidation. What was the Board of Trustees doing these past years to monitor the money flows?
Looks like the system is failed. Needs an ongoing independent audit and maybe some new blood in the system before the college district comes back to voters for more bond money.
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