San Mateo Co. Community College District Official Faces Charges

SAN MATEO, CA — The Vice Chancellor of Facilities of the San Mateo Community College District faces 15 felony charges related to allegations of corruption and improper use of funds, the San Mateo County District Attorney’s office announced Tuesday.

Jose Nunez, who has worked at the district for 21 years, was accused of using school district resources to support a candidate’s campaign for a spot on the district’s board of trustees and to support Proposition 13, a bond measure that provided $2 billion in funding for community college capital projects across California.

Nunez was placed under administrative leave Tuesday by the district, Ana Maria Pulido, the director of public affairs, told Patch in a statement.

"Although the facts of the case are still limited, the College District has placed Mr. Nuñez on administrative leave to allow the legal process to take its course," Pulido said. "For that reason, we are not in a position to specifically respond to the allegations. 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. The College District has cooperated with the investigation, and will continue to be available to, the District Attorney’s Office."

Nunez was also accused of directing the construction contract for the Canada College Solar Photovoltaic Design - Build Project — a 1 megawatt AC solar PV panel system at Canada College — to the architectural firm Allana, Buick and Bers in 2013 and 2014, prosecutors said.

Nunez also failed to report several gifts that he received from district vendors from 2009 to 2020 in his personal interest forms, which he is required to do so each year, prosecutors alleged.

The district has three schools in San Mateo County and serves more than 25,000 students.

Patch has reached out to Nunez’s attorney for comment.

The charges against Nunez were part of an ongoing investigation into the use of funds at the community college district, according to the district attorney’s office.

Nunez is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday in Redwood City.