January 1, 2011. Governor Schwarzenegger made several appointments to the California High Speed Rail Authority Board on the eve of his departure. The Governor is allowed to appoint 5 of the 9 members of the Authority board, and none of those appointments require Senate confirmation. The Governor took action on three of the slots. According to the Governor’s press office, he left Lynn Schenk (whose term expired in 2004) and his special advisor David Crane in place and made the following changes: Curt Pringle (term ending 12/31/2010) – ReappointedVacancy created by Richard Katz’s resignation – Filled by Fresno developer and Schwarzenegger political donor (a $25,000 donation in 2009 to the “California Dream Team”) Thomas Richards; Rod Diridon (term ended 12/31/2009) – Replaced by Los Angeles Business Journal publisher Matt Toledo
December 1, 2010. In private e-mails, the Chairman admits the engineers are not listening to communities. See this Voice of OC article from December 1, 2010. "They seem to be so dense ... they are not able of understanding the impacts of their words and actions. I sincerely do not know how they can work on a project of this size!" "How a project of this size could ever move this far without EVER talking to the public is inconceivable!" "How can I demonstrate any degree of confidence in this team? I can not represent to ANY person from any region in this state that I have confidence in this team.
"I am very angry. ... I am NOT KIDDING!"
December 2, 2010. The Attorney General (AG) finds HSRA Board members, Chairman Curt Pringle and Richard Katz, have conflict in serving on HSRA Board. See this Sacremento Bee article.
Board Members.
For a list of the active Board members, visit the California High Speed Rail website here.
See CARRD's link for more information on the positions and their terms. Click here to see who appoints the board members.
History since the passing of the bond measure:
Curt Pringle, Chairman - resigned July 2011. On August 19, 2011 Jerry Brown appointes his replacement, Dan Richard (see Sac Bee article here), a BART veteran. Vice chairman Tom Umberg steps up as Chairman. See Orange County Register article here.
Tom Umberg, Vice Chairperson. July 2011 becomes Chairman after Pringle.
David Crane - Resigned. August 2011. Replaced by Jerry Brown appointee Michael Rossi. Rossi is Brown’s senior advisor for jobs and business development and had a long banking and finance career prior to joining his Democratic administration. See LA Times article here.
Richard Katz - Dec 1, 2010 resigned due to incompatible office (see below). Replaced with Thomas Richards (1/11)
Fran Florez - April 2011. Not re-appointed after termed out and moves on. April 7, 2011. The mid-Peninsula's first board representative, Redwood City mayor Jim Hartnett was named to the California High-Speed Rail Authority Board of Directors by California Senate President Darrell Steinberg yesterday. See the Daily Journal article here.
Quentin Kopp - Resigned April 2011, Replaced by Bob Balgenorth, president of the California Building and Construction Trades Council. See San Mateo Daily Journal article here.
Rod Diridon - Schwarzenegger replaced controversial board member Rod Diridon (among other things, he called those who questioned the project "Rotten Apples") with Matt Toledo (1/11), a Los Angeles Business Journal publisher. See the Palo Alto Daily Post article here.
Roelof van Ark, CEO - Replaced Mehdi Morshed who retired.
The HSRA website has a section on the board members here.
There is a conflict of interest for board members Curt Pringle and Richard Katz who are occupying conflicting offices in the eye of the law. Read this September 28, 2010 LA Times article.
(See the update above)
Curt Pringle also has a lobbying firm, Curt Pringle & Associates. From the company website: "Specializing in perception management."
For a full explanation of the conflict of interest issue and a timeline, see CARRD's report. A letter from the Attorney General's (Jerry Brown's) Office to the CEO of the HSRA asking that the HSRA Board clear these issues up. The letter is cc'd to board member Quentin Kopp.
Update December 1, 2010. Attorney General (AG) makes formal opinion: state attorney general has concluded that the mayor of Anaheim (Curt Pringle) and members of Los Angeles County and Orange County transportation boards may not serve simultaneously on California’s High-Speed Rail Authority board.
Ethics Issues.
According to this LA Times article from October 31. 2010, Board members paid tens of thousands of dollars in consulting fees and campaign contributions by firms who stand to gain from HSR decisions.
November 4, 2010. Board members received gifts in violation of their own policies. See CARRD's report here.
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