Don’t overlook the role of the Board of Trustees in this travesty. As a former SMCCCD administrator, I spoke at Board meetings and in writing about how the contract for “Chancellor Emeritus” could be perceived as a quid pro quo. Even the Palo Alto Daily Post called it "An arrangement to conceal."

One has to ask:

1. What caused the Board, after nineteen years of promoting Galatolo, to force him out in August 2019? No one knows.
2. Ex-chancellors are usually shown the door with a severance and a good-by. The Board chose to keep Galatolo around with a new employment contract that extended 32 months. Why?
3. Galatolo was put on "administrative leave" in August 2019. The Board claimed it was NOT related to the DA's investigation. So, what was it about?
4. Once a leader is placed on “administrative leave,” typically an investigation begins to determine whether there is cause for dismissal or to go back to work. A new trustee stated the investigation began in January 2021. Why did the Board wait 16 months to investigate someone on paid administrative leave?

My view is that the old Board failed in their role as trustees. They failed to hold the chancellor accountable and failed in their fiduciary responsibility to the community. If they knew of the DA’s investigation in 2019, signing Galatolo’s new contract as chancellor emeritus was irresponsible and a failure to perform due diligence.

Don’t let the Board cover up their complicity in this scandalous affair.
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Michael B. Reiner, PhD, is a higher education consultant and educational researcher. Previously, he was a professor of psychology and college administrator at City University of New York (CUNY), Miami Dade College, the Riverside Community College District, and the San Mateo County Community College District. mreiner32205@gmail.com  LinkedIn: Web Link

Seems to me that the community college district 1) has way too much money and 2) suffers from a sever lack of moral direction and judgement. How do these Board members remain in their positions? IS there no oversight, either legal, financial or both. If there were, it would seem that this would have been called out long ago and stopped. The big question in my mind is this: why do the so-called smart voters in this county continue to stand for this? Why do we continue to vote them more money to squander on ridiculous severance and employment packages, lavish gyms, and under-utilized buildings? Defund the CC District!!

Echoing Michael Reiner’s comments, this seems absolutely crazy.

I hope the Almanac will do a follow up and get some answers to Michael’s questions.

Could not have happened to a more deserving, corrupt, sociopath as far as I am concerned. I REALLY hope the District Attorney uses all the evidence he has been given and actually takes this matter further rather than sweeping it under the carpet and letting it go. Galatolo has caused irrepairable, long term harm to many employees who tried to stand up to him. Finally the truth starts to come out but its only the tip of the iceburg and I pray everything is revealed and he ends up where he belongs - in Prison!