Board of Trustees role in the case of the “City College Three” called into question

By Matthew Gomez
The Guardsman

The Board of Trustees is stalling the resolution of the case involving three former City College administrators charged with misappropriating funds, according to an email sent to The Guardsman by attorneys for the administrators.

Board of Trustees President John Rizzo told The Guardsman that the board was not involved in the case in any way.

“It is difficult to characterize Mr. Rizzo’s claim that the board is in no way affiliated with the case as anything other than disingenuous,” Julie Salamon and Doron Weinberg, attorneys for Phillip Day and Stephen Herman respectively,  stated in the email.

Weinberg said the board voted in support of a $95,000 restitution the District Attorney’s office is demanding from the three administrators. The money would be paid out of pocket.

“Their involvement is the central issue in the case,” Weinberg said of the board.

Chris Jackson, vice-president of the board, said the attorneys’ claims are unfounded.

“We are not involved,” Jackson said. “I will be clear. The board is not involved.”

He said the DA approached the board to ask if they would favor restitution in addition to the $95,000, but that no such resolution had been reached.

“We are not even saying ‘no,’” Jackson said.

He said the only reason the case has shown up on their closed session agenda is so the board can keep themselves updated. Since this is the district attorney’s case, the board cannot get involved, Jackson said. This echoed statements previously made by Rizzo.

“He’s taking on stances that he can’t feasibly defend,” Jackson said of the attorneys. “Our role is to simply sit back and let justice take its place.”

Neither John Rizzo nor the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office responded to requests for comment by press time.

Email:
mgomez@theguardsman.com