A proposal to reform San Diego Association of Governments' (SANDAG) local transportation spending in San Diego was unveiled Monday.
California State Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher (D-San Diego) presented Assembly Bill 805, which would change the way San Diego spends and tracks billions of dollars for transportation funding from taxpayers, said a representative for Fletcher.
The bill would alter SANDAG's decision-making process along with the two transit districts that serve parts of San Diego County.
It would make SANDAG employ an independent auditor who would report to a newly formed Audit Committee to create new financial oversight. The committee would be comprised of members of the public, who would oversee SANDAG's spending plans, financial forecasts and annual budget, according to the representative.
"Anyone who watched the Measure A debacle and its fallout knows it’s time to reform the way we raise and spend transportation dollars in the San Diego region," said Assemblywoman Gonzalez Fletcher, in a statement.
The proposed reform follows the failure of SANDAG to accurately report the projected tax revenue for Measure A.
On the November 2016 ballot, SANDAG claimed that a half-cent TransNet sales tax hike would collect $14 billion for local transportation projects.
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In reality, the proceeds would be $5 billion less, which SANDAG staff blamed on a human error involving a missing data slide. The measure failed and the agency lost some credibility as a result of the miscalculation.
As part of the effort to give more responsibility to other agencies, the bill would give two local transit operators including the Metropolitan Transit System and the North County Transit District the ability to approach voters in their communities with ballot measures for transit projects, according to the representative.
More accountability measures include placing more authority in the hands of individual mayors in each city of San Diego County and requiring annual reports are made to the state explaining SANDAG's plans.
The single agency vote policy in the three transportation agencies would also be eliminated by the bill. It's a process that allows every city to cast a vote of equal weight regardless of population, according to the representative.
If passed, each city's voting strength would become proportionate to its population.
