Following years of delays, opening arguments began for the trial of former San Mateo County Community College District chancellor Ronald Galatolo on Oct. 27, at the SMC Superior Court in Redwood City.
BACKGROUND
Galatolo’s 23 felony charges, brought by the District Attorney, include misappropriation of public funds, conflict of interest, embezzlement, perjury, unreported gifts and tax fraud. The alleged crimes span from 2011 to 2020, according to the case file.
Galatolo, who served as chancellor for almost 20 years, resigned in 2019 after SMCCCD’s former head of human resources, Eugene Whitlock, filed a whistleblower complaint. Galatolo remained on the district’s payroll for over a year following his resignation, as he was given the title of chancellor emeritus by the district, which consisted of an over $460,000 salary on the condition that he did not visit any of the campuses, according to a 2021 article from The Almanac. He held this status for 17 months until he was fired in Feb. 2021 after being arrested for the alleged felonies.
Among the charges, prosecutors have accused Galatolo of giving the district’s building contracts to construction companies from whom he received gifts, such as concert tickets and travel, and not disclosing these gifts, as stated on the DA’s website.
He is also suspected of having reported a $10,000 charitable donation on his personal tax return in 2017, when the donation was actually made by a foundation run by SMCCCD.
Additionally, prosecutors accused Galatolo of using SMCCCD funds to hire a lawyer for himself when he faced a contract dispute with the district.
In the trial’s opening statements, Galatolo’s lawyer, Charles Smith, rebutted claims that his client mishandled any public funds. He said that Galatolo’s misreporting of the donation on his tax return was a mistake, and that his acceptance of gifts was not illegal. Smith also said Galatolo had permission to obtain a lawyer using the district’s money, and there was a precedent for doing so.
IMPACT
Since SMCCCD is partially funded by taxpayers, some believed that this case could cause the public to question whether their money is being used responsibly.
“Distrust in a system can lead to the downfall of that system,” said junior Anjalika Khare. “Once you start not agreeing with something, you look into it deeply. You find things like this that puts more holes in the cheese. People could be doing bad things with the [tax] money I’m giving, so why should I give money to these people?”
But the suspected misuse of tax funds is not the only point of concern for the community. For many students, Galatolo’s case gave rise to worries about a potential wider lack of oversight within SMCCCD’s leadership.
“Because [Galatolo’s alleged crimes] went on for so long, and I feel like there was so much [being done] that was obvious, I don’t know how they didn’t catch it sooner,” said junior Mavis Nguyen. “That means there’s a lot more room for other people to be doing similar things.”
Regardless of the outcome of the trial and whether or not Galatolo is found guilty of the charges, some were bothered by what they viewed as his ethical breaches, particularly regarding the allegations that he took bribes from construction firms.
“Legality aside, there is also a sense of morality one needs to have when taking this job [of chancellor],” Khare said. “I really don’t think being able to be bribed easily in a position like this is representative of anybody’s good morals.”
College of San Mateo student Natasha Efron felt that the former chancellor’s alleged actions stemmed from a disconnect to the community.
“People who are playing with this kind of money don’t understand what regular people who are living paycheck to paycheck go through,” Efron said. “[They’re] living in their own bubble.”
ACCOUNTABILITY
Many have called for more transparency around where taxpayer money is going. Some said that this could allow the district to be more proactive in monitoring use of funds, rather than taking action after misconduct occurred, as they felt was the case with Galatolo.
“There needs to be general knowledge of what is happening with the money, because misappropriation of funds usually comes from people not really saying where it’s going,” Efron said. “Once something happens, then they look into it, and then they’re like, ‘oh, this was not going where it was supposed to go.’”
Beyond that, some thought that the district ought to implement new ways to monitor administrators’ activity.
“There should be somebody holding [the chancellor] accountable on top of another person holding that
person accountable,” said senior Nyla Garrick. “That way, everybody knows that there’s double the transparency and where the money is going.”
Efron suggested that those in higher-up positions having direct, on-the-ground interactions with community happenings might be beneficial.
“[They could] visit the actual campuses, if they’re not here a lot,” Efron said. “Visit the food distribution activities or events that happen at all the campuses. They can see what’s going on in the community, so they get a better idea of what’s happening.”
In the case that Galatolo is convicted, students described what would help the district regain their trust.
“I hope that he knows that this is not okay,” Garrick said. “This is not normal. Nobody should have this amount of greed when they already are privileged enough to have that salary. To be greedy and to continue to take more money for your own good, he needs to be put in jail.”
In addition, many also mentioned that they would like to see the return of funds that the former chancellor allegedly embezzled.
Some said they have observed a pattern of influential people who have been found guilty of crimes getting away without what they deemed as a fair punishment, and feared that the same could happen in this instance.
“There should not be a situation where he gets off scot-free,” Khare said. “You see cases like P. Diddy, where he barely gets a sentence, [and] like Trump, where his felonies go unnoticed. That shouldn’t happen in this case. That’s a dangerous thing to push to people, especially higher ranking people. That’s just saying rich people can get away with anything.”
SUCCESSORS
After Galatolo resigned, the district appointed Michael Claire as chancellor. Before being selected, he held several roles at SMCCCD, including being a college president. Claire retired in June 2023, and the same year, the district appointed Melissa Moreno as Interim Chancellor. Her position was made permanent in April 2024, and she remains the current chancellor. Moreno has held leadership roles at Santa Barbara City College, and is the former president of Skyline College, which is part of SMCCCD, where she implemented diversity and student democracy initiatives, as per her biography on the district’s website.
“She does have that experience,” Khare said. “She’s gone up the ladder. I think what they are doing by putting somebody in [with that] experience is trying to right that wrong.”
Galatolo’s trial remains ongoing, and it is unclear how long the proceedings will take or when a verdict is expected to be reached.
