'Sexual' allegations against Latino leader
Roberto Santiago, executive director of Concilio, the state's oldest Latino social-service agency, has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation into sexual allegations against him, according to a board member of the North Philadelphia nonprofit agency.
Roberto Santiago, executive director of Concilio, the state's oldest Latino social-service agency, has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation into sexual allegations against him, according to a board member of the North Philadelphia nonprofit agency.
The board has hired an outside investigator to look into a complaint a female employee made against Santiago, who has led Concilio since 1996, board president Tony Valdes said yesterday. He said a report was expected within three weeks.
Valdes declined to identify the investigator or firm.
Santiago, who was placed on leave on Tuesday, also was granted a request for a leave from his post on the city Civil Service Commission, to which Mayor Nutter appointed him last May, the Mayor's Office said. Nutter granted the request, the Mayor's Office said.
The commission hears workplace complaints for city jobs. Santiago is eligible to earn up to $17,500 a year for serving on the commission, the Mayor's Office said.
The board received a complaint from the employee on Monday, Valdes said. A few hours later, the board met with Santiago, Valdes said.
"The board of directors at Concilio takes matters of this nature seriously and, effective immediately, has placed Mr. Santiago on administrative leave," Valdes said, reading from a prepared statement.
"During this time, operations at Concilio will proceed as usual," Valdes read.
Valdes refused to elaborate on the specifics of the claims against Santiago pending completion of the investigator's report. But another Concilio board member, Jose Joaquin Mota, confirmed that the accusations were "sexual" in nature. Mota said he was in New York and could not attend the meeting Monday night.
Efforts to reach Santiago were unsuccessful.
"This allegation, while very serious, can take away his 30 years of service to the community," said City Councilwoman Maria Quinones-Sanchez, who added that Santiago is a close friend. "He's innocent until proven guilty."
Concilio staffers were informed of Santiago's administrative leave at a meeting Tuesday morning.
The alleged victim continues to work at the nonprofit agency, Valdes and Mota said. Santiago is being paid during the investigation, said Valdes.
According to the agency's 2007 tax form, Santiago earned $95,065 in salary and an additional $16,807 in benefits that year.
Concilio offers smoke-cessation programs, parenting-skills training, teen sexual-abstinence programs and other outreach efforts primarily to Latino residents of North Philadelphia. It also organizes the annual Puerto Rican Festival and the Hispanic Fiesta at Penn's Landing. *
Staff writer Jessica Bautista contributed to this report.
