REGION — Criminal charges will not be filed against the San Diego Association of Governments or its employees following the conclusion of a federal Department of Justice investigation regarding its contracting practices, it was announced today.
In a statement, SANDAG did not elaborate on the nature of the federal investigation other than to state that “it focused on the contracting activities of SANDAG and whether those activities had violated federal law.”
SANDAG further noted that it “was not provided with complete information about the nature and scope of the investigation.”
DOJ officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
While SANDAG was recently scrutinized for its toll collection practices, prompting a lawsuit alleging drivers on state Route 125 were massively overcharged, it’s uncertain whether that was the focus of the investigation.
In its Friday statement, SANDAG said it was taking measures to bolster its internal operations and improve its business practices.
“Consistent with previous findings by agency management, the Office of the Independent Performance Auditor, and other external audits, substantive improvements are being made to strengthen policies and internal controls, deploy tools and training, and create consistent business practices across the agency,” SANDAG said.
“These measures will help to ensure that procurement practices are fair and competitive, staff are adequately trained to perform their responsibilities, and that consultant resources are managed in line with contract terms and conditions and established budgets.”
The SANDAG board of directors continues to wrestle with the fact that it was kept in the dark about issues related to the state Route 125 tolling system, and several members remain suspicious about who else knew about these issues early on.
Recent audits completed by SANDAG’s Independent Performance Auditor Courtney Ruby confirmed that agency executives were aware of significant financial reporting issues with operator ETAN Tolling Technologies in mid-2022 but did not tell the board until late 2023.
Ruby’s office also found that when SANDAG rushed into a $28 million sole-source contract with Deloitte and A-To-Be to migrate over the back office system technology earlier this year, the agency failed to ensure that its financial accounting needs would be met.
This oversight created a host of new problems that will extend the timeline for transferring over to the back office system by several months.
The Office of the Independent Performance Auditor presented the findings of two reports to the SANDAG board of directors on Oct. 25 after sharing it with the board’s audit committee in November.
Board members expressed disappointment with the findings and claimed that a toxic culture of mismanagement under former CEO Hasan Ikhratra allowed shady practices to snowball.
The Coast News reporter Laura Place contributed to this report.
