Felony charges for ex-chancellor

More than two years after his resignation, the former chancellor of the San Mateo County Community College District has been charged with corruption related to a donation benefiting Tubbs Fire victims, officials said Thursday.

Ronald Galatolo is the second former administrator at the college district to face felony charges since December, when Jose Nunez, former vice chancellor of facilities, was accused and later convicted of misusing college district funds, according to San Mateo County prosecutors.

The San Mateo County Community College District operates Cañada College, College of San Mateo and Skyline College. It has approximately 45,000 students and a budget this year of more than $508 million.

Members of the college district’s executive leadership team were the subject of a whistleblower complaint in April 2019 that alleged corruption among administrators. Galatolo resigned in August 2019 after 18 years on the job. The San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office announced felony charges on Thursday.

Prosecutors said that as chancellor, Galatolo fraudulently reported a $10,000 charitable donation to a wildfire relief fund for the college district’s students and employees affected by the Tubbs Fire on his own 2017 state income tax return. The donation had actually been made by the college district’s fundraising arm, the District Attorney’s Office said in a statement.

With help from Nunez, prosecutors said, Galatolo allegedly ensured that certain construction projects for the college district were awarded to vendors who had given him “multiple valuable gifts” such as concert tickets and international travel opportunities. He also “shared financial interests” with those vendors, and they continued to provide gifts after the contracts were awarded, officials said.

Galatolo did not report the “numerous valuable gifts” from the construction firms on his annual Form 700, also known as statement of economic interests, prosecutors said. Using personal funds, he purchased “high-end and classic cars” and allegedly underreported their value to the California DMV on purpose, officials said.

Galatolo, Nunez and the college district could not immediately be reached for comment.

Galatolo’s arraignment in Redwood City is scheduled for April 15.