The Skyline View reported on Monday that NBC Bay Area was airing an investigative piece that night centered on San Mateo County Community College District Ron Galatolo. Yesterday, the district issued a statement in response to NBC.

NBC’s investigation, which started with inquiries into a replica Porsche with district registration parked in an abandoned building on the College of San Mateo campus, also centered on alcohol purchases charged to the district’s account by Galatolo. The district response from spokeswoman Barbara Christensen denies any wrongdoing on the chancellor’s part and says NBC’s Vicky Nguyen filmed Galatolo without his permission outside a board meeting.

According to the statement issued yesterday, the car was never registered to the district. The NBC story suggests that district registration could have been placed on the windshield so it could be parked on campus for free. The district’s statement says they had no knowledge of district registration being affixed to the car and suggests it was put there by whoever tipped Nguyen off about it.

In the process of investigating the car, NBC looked into purchases made by Galatolo at company trips and meetings, primarily money spent on alcohol.

According to the policies and procedures listed in the user’s guide for the SMCCCD procurement card, which is provided for employees to purchase goods on the district’s behalf, using the card for purchases of alcohol are prohibited. The district’s statement doesn’t refer to this policy, but to one for conference and travel expenses.

According to the district’s response, “ These expenses, which fall outside the scope of the Domestic Conference and Travel Expense policy, may involve payment for meals and these meals may include alcoholic beverages, which are appropriately reimbursed by the District.”

San Mateo County Community College District’s statement is available on their homepage. The NBC story can be found here.

The Skyline View will provide an update to this story as more information becomes available.