Chancellor Under Fire for Misuse of City College Money After Allegations by Her Executive Assistant
The Board of Trustees are poised to take action in a special meeting on Monday.
A special meeting of the board of trustees is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 5, after allegations of financial malfeasance by the chancellor.
Following a report by the San Francisco Chronicle on Wednesday regarding Chancellor Kimberlee Messina’s alleged misuse of funds to benefit herself, a “special” meeting of the Board of Trustees was scheduled with just one item on the agenda: “Public Employee Discipline/Dismissal/Release.”
The Chronicle reported that Board of Trustees President Aliya Chisti received a letter on Sept. 4 from Mary Grace Esteban, the chancellor’s executive assistant, that "outlined [Esteban’s] concerns" about the chancellor’s alleged misuse of funds.
Those concerns included seven allegations "regarding the use of CCSF funds without board authorization or approved through channels that were not consistent with CCSF's ordinary practices," according to a subsequent letter Chisti addressed to Esteban, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
The Chronicle further reported that Chisti told Esteban that the college will hire an investigator to "conduct a prompt, thorough, and impartial investigation in the allegations."
Robin Pugh, president of the college faculty union AFT 2121, mirrored Chisti’s call for the college to perform an independent investigation of the allegations at the Participatory Governance Council meeting on Thursday, where the chancellor and her staff were present.
“If Chancellor Messina is not being placed on paid administrative leave, safeguards must be in place to ensure that the alleged behavior is precluded from continuing, that retaliation is not possible and employees are not at risk, that attempts to retroactively cover past behavior are not possible, and that the integrity of CCSF’s finances will not be compromised by her continuing to serve as the chief official of our College,” Pugh said.
The Participatory Governance Council is an advisory body and does not have authority to take action on such matters, but makes recommendations to the Board of Trustees. No motions were made during the meeting to recommend that the Board of Trustees investigate the allegations against the chancellor.
“The fact that multiple employees are coming forward matters… The Board must take great care to let these employees know their concerns will be taken seriously and that retaliation will not be tolerated,” Pugh said.
When it was time for the chancellor to present her report, she began by acknowledging that the allegations were "the elephant in the room," but declined to comment on the impending “confidential investigation” by the Board of Trustees, saying only that she "commended our Board of Trustees on being thoughtful and committing to their fiduciary duty."
Pugh added that the college's current in-house legal counsel, Amy McLellan, and the college’s outside legal advisors, which include AALRR, should not be considered independent.
Neither the chancellor’s office nor Chisti have responded to The Guardsman’s requests for comment by press time.
