The SANDAG board of directors on Friday unanimously approved recommendations in an investigation of the state Route 125 tolling system by the regional agency’s independent auditor.
Yet the board also called for further investigation by the auditor to determine whether the legal and executive teams and individual board members serving the San Diego Association of Governments were made aware of concerns about the South Bay system before the board.
The Office of Independent Performance Auditor’s investigative report, SANDAG and San Diego County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Nora Vargas said, highlights “blatant errors and a dysfunctional system that shortchanges commuters and all who use our roads. San Diegans deserve better.”
The board unanimously approved accepting implementation of 10 recommendations identified in the SR-125 Toll Operations Investigation Report, along with ongoing efforts to confirm that customer accounts are accurate.
The board also plans to validate with management that no similar issues identified in the SR-125 contract process will be repeated in future contracts and develop a policy for timely reporting on all multi-million dollar projects.
Vargas said she wants the board “to once and for all make the systemic changes that will restore the public’s faith,” while “institutional(izing) greater oversight, accountability and transparency at SANDAG.”
She also called for an ethics and compliance office and a strengthened whistleblower program at SANDAG. The board will continue to address the SR-125 issue at its next meeting.
In a November wrongful termination lawsuit, a fired SANDAG executive alleged that she was let go because she refused to go along with the desire of agency leaders to keep customer account problems in the tolling system from the public.
In January, the board sought to address tolling system deficiencies by approving implementation of a new back-office system. They also entered into a contract with Deloitte and A-to-Be to replace the current tolling system, called ETAN, by the end of the year.
Additional commitments from the action plan include conducting regular vendor and internal assessments, implementing a quality assurance and quality control plan and making internal policy changes, among them requiring regular and proactive reporting to SANDAG’s board.
