Board members on Thursday told contractor Parsons Brinckerhoff
that the California High-Speed Rail Authority has beefed up its
senior management since the first contract was signed with the
company in 2006 and will not act as a rubber-stamp, as critics have
charged.
The rail authority has been criticized for relying too heavily
on outside contractors.
The board also approved carrying over $24 million in unspent money from the previous $199 million contract with the firm.
The authority's chief executive, Jeff Morales, was a senior
vice president at Parsons Brinckerhoff before being hired last
June.