Supervisor Jim_Desmond says SANDAG’s Hasan Ikhrata 'needs to go' after another audit found blatant waste of millions of taxpayer dollars under his watch. State Senate District 38 candidate CBlakespear has been Chair of SANDAG during this time.
SAN DIEGO – The little trust San Diego had in the leaders that compose SANDAG is once again waning following another audit of the leadership’s spending that revealed millions of additional dollars allotted to contractors after their bids were set.
Last week, the Office of the Independent Performance Auditor released a report showing the San Diego Association of Governments increased vendor contracts by tens of millions of dollars more than their original amounts. Key takeaways from the audit include a disproportionate preference to certain vendors, with some contractors receiving up to 700% more than initially awarded. One vendor received a $64 million increase from the original contract. This means that certain contractors, who appear to be heavily favored over others, were allowed tens of millions more than their contracts specify. A previous audit found that SANDAG abusing taxpayer funds, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on lavish filet mignon dinners. SANDAG Executive Director Hasan Ikhrata, and Chair Catherine Blakespear refused to comment on that audit, and simply made “stricter” regulations in regards to use of the taxpayer funded credit cards. Blakespear has refused to appear on KUSI News since the coverage of this audit, and is now campaigning for State Senate District 38 against Matt Gunderson. Blakespear and Ikhrata are still in top leadership positions at SANDAG, and another audit has found another scandal resulting in wasting millions of taxpayer dollars. It is worth noting that SANDAG is trying to tax San Diegans for every mile they drive in order to fund their $163 Billion Regional Transportation bill. County Supervisor Jim Desmond has been one of the Board Members leading the fight for transparency and accountability by SANDAG, and tells KUSI’s Ed Lenderman that it’s time for Hasan Ikhrata to go.RELATED STORY:
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