San Diego

Gov Signs Bill Bringing Reform to Embattled SANDAG

SANDAG voting structure will be changed after the agency was found to have used inflated revenue projections to promote a recent ballot measure.

Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill Wednesday overhauling the regional planning agency.

The San Diego Association of Governments oversees how public money is spent on the region's highway and transit projects.

The new legislation will among other things create an independent audit committee and change the agency's voting structure.

SANDAG came under fire after an independent investigation found the agency showed a "severe lack of judgment" in responding to staff concerns about "Measure A" revenue projections.

Staff knew revenue forecasts were incorrect months before Measure A was put on the ballot but SANDAG went forward with the incorrect projection anyway.

Measure A was a proposed half-cent tax for a period of 40 years. According to the measure, a portion of the funds raised would have gone to specific transit projects throughout the county.

In emails sent to NBC 7 Investigates and the Voice of San Diego, board members said they were not informed of errors in the agency’s economic forecast, which were used to create revenue expectations for both Measure A and the agency’s existing sales tax, 

For more information about that, read the NBC 7 Investigates story here.

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