California’s high-speed rail mission is a case examine in lost public belief and squandered taxpayer cash.

It is also one of Gavin Newsom’s abject failures, one that could doom his presidential aspirations. 

Unbelievable as it may appear, Newsom vetoed a invoice to enhance oversight of the mission. The measure would have allowed the Office of the Inspector General to rent extremely educated employees for audits and investigations.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks at the Stop the Power Grab Tour rally in Los Angeles on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026. ZUMAPRESS.com

What is Newsom afraid of? The next governor must give us the reply.

Newsom touted the mission as a job creator, but the mission saw rising jobs snatched up by well-connected consultants and contractors who had made political contributions to the bond initiative that funded the mission and assisted the politicians who support it. 

Newsom has also persistently appointed political hacks and donors to the mission — and usually, they lack the crucial expertise and time to oversee it correctly.

In 2008, Californians accepted $9.95 billion of state bond funding as seed cash to construct a $33 billion high-speed rail system promising a 2-hour, 40-minute journey between Los Angeles and San Francisco with speeds of up to 220 miles per hour, and an expected completion date of 2020. 

Today, the official high-end value estimate exceeds $231 billion; failed oversight and lack of value accountability have undermined public belief; and full service, if it’s ever delivered at all, stays many years away.

A practice travels in Altamont, California, in an artist’s rendition. State lawmakers accepted a rail financing plan on Friday, July 6, 2012. Reuters

A September report by the mission’s inspector normal discovered that consultants were reimbursed for quite a few questionable leisure and journey bills, and it uncovered deep weaknesses in oversight and approval procedures. In all, about $600,000 was reimbursed in violation of state contracting guidelines and journey rules. The report seems to have led to the current departure of CEO Ian Choudri.

Enough. This cycle of waste, abuse, delay, conflicts of curiosity and failed management has dragged on for too lengthy. Accountability can no longer be postponed.

The next California governor must carry in certified impartial auditors to conduct a forensic audit — a thorough evaluation of monetary information for proof of waste, fraud, potential embezzlement, regulatory violations or other misconduct.

Anyone who violated the public belief should be held totally accountable under the legislation.

A central query stays: Where was the oversight board?

The California High-Speed Rail Authority is ruled by a nine-member voting board of administrators accountable for overseeing the mission’s planning, development, funds, contracts and main coverage choices. The board also consists of two non-voting members.

Five of the voting members are appointed by the governor, two by the California Senate Rules Committee, and two by the speaker of the Assembly.

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Spending on the mission — which has yet to lay an inch of monitor — has chugged alongside for the full eight years of Newsom’s administration. Why did the governor’s 5 appointees fail to catch these damaging issues sooner?

In October, it was reported that when the California High-Speed Rail Authority awarded a $24 million contract to KPMG, the board knew the consulting large meant to cost more than its unusually low bid for high-level positions.

In response, the board chair requested the inspector normal to evaluation the mission, but apparently did not ask for an impartial forensic audit.

The inspector normal, while beneficial, does not have the manpower, scope and experience to carry out a detailed examination and analysis to uncover fraud and other monetary misconduct with the objective of gathering proof that can stand up in a court docket of legislation.

Unlike a normal audit, a forensic audit acts like a zoom lens on particular accounts, contracts, bills, distributors or suspicious habits.

Enough reports. No more explanations will do. We do not need to hear guarantees that California’s bullet practice is lastly getting back on monitor.

Taxpayers want a forensic audit — not to reveal guilt, but to reveal the reality. Given considerations about poor administration controls, delays, value overruns and the billions of taxpayer {dollars} dedicated to the mission, pledges to do higher are merely not enough.

Open the books. Follow the cash. Examine every main contract. Let an impartial, deep audit reply the query hanging over the high-speed rail mission: What occurred to taxpayers’ cash, who abused it and who was accountable for defending it?

Only if the next governor of California orders a forensic audit can we transfer ahead to make high-speed rail workable, and to regain the public belief.

Nick Patsaouras is an electrical engineer, civic chief and the creator of the ebook “The Making of Modern Los Angeles.”