California’s High-Speed Rail Authority board voted 7-2 to require advance approval from authority attorneys for contract decisions within CEO Ian Choudri’s $25 million delegated authority. The change follows scrutiny of a $131.2 million design contract whose proposal committed six key personnel to Sacramento, although records show three did not relocate. Taxpayers paid travel costs, including more than $76,000 for out-of-state key personnel travel identified by the inspector general between 2024 and 2026. Records also show a nearly 23% increase in one consultant’s hourly rate, though they do not establish that invoices contained unauthorized charges. The new approval requirement adds oversight, while questions about staffing, travel and billing remain for the board and authority to address.
TLDR: The rail authority board has limited the CEO’s contracting discretion by requiring advance attorney approval for decisions within his $25 million delegated authority. Records concerning out-of-state consultant travel and billing have raised questions, but do not by themselves establish unauthorized charges.
California’s High-Speed Rail Authority board has added a new approval step for contract decisions after questions surfaced about consultant travel, staffing commitments and billing. The board voted 7-2 to restrict CEO Ian Choudri’s independent contracting authority. Decisions within his delegated authority of $25 million now require advance approval from the authority’s attorneys.
The authority defended paying for consultants to travel to its office by citing Gov. Gavin Newsom’s return-to-office order for state workers. The contract with SYSTRA|TYPSA already required six key personnel to work in Sacramento. That requirement, and the authority’s stated rationale, provide the basis for examining whether public payments matched the contract terms.
The joint venture holds a $131.2 million contract to design track and overhead electrical systems for the rail project. Its proposal said key personnel were “100% committed to relocating to Sacramento.” Records reviewed by CBS California show that consultants in three of the six key positions did not relocate. Instead, taxpayers paid for flights into Sacramento, including travel from Texas and Denver.
The current digital manager is based in Denver, while the current design engineering manager travels from Austin, Texas. Both replaced employees originally named in the contract. Records indicate neither the original personnel nor their replacements moved to Sacramento. These arrangements put the project’s staffing promises and the cost of meeting them under scrutiny.
Robert Kennah, SYSTRA’s principal-in-charge, signed an April 2024 letter committing to work full time in Sacramento. Travel records show 25 trips or claims between his Denver home and Sacramento from July 2024 through May 2025. Airfare, hotels and ground transportation were billed to California taxpayers. The records show he flew in two to five times a month.
A contract manager reminded SYSTRA of the Sacramento staffing requirement in December 2024. After that reminder, Kennah’s trips fell to about once a month, but taxpayers continued paying for them through May 2025. The inspector general found that the authority paid more than $76,000 for key personnel to travel from out of state between 2024 and 2026. The contract manager told investigators that a senior consultant needed to work with a Denver-based team. The watchdog questioned why taxpayers should cover travel costs arising from the firm’s staffing arrangements.
The available records also raise questions about attendance and billing, but do not settle them. Photographs of an office whiteboard, supplied by whistleblowers and covering about nine months, show a pattern of three expected in-office days a week for Kennah. The board was not a verified attendance record, and it does not establish where he worked or whether he billed improperly. The evidence points to a need for reliable checks against contract commitments, not a final finding about an individual’s attendance.
Kennah’s hourly rate rose nearly 23% after Choudri became CEO, reaching $505.91. The contract lists Sacramento as Kennah’s office and specifies a lower rate, while also providing a calculation that pays eligible consultants more when they work from a home office. After Choudri took over, Kennah consistently billed the higher rate, including on days records indicate he was in Sacramento. The authority did not answer questions about who approved the rate increase or whether Kennah qualified for it. Records show the state was billed nearly $13,000 more for 22 days of work, but they do not establish that either invoice contained an unauthorized charge.
The project’s broader financial position makes careful review consequential. Nearly three decades and more than $15 billion have gone into the high-speed rail project, yet California has not laid a mile of high-speed rail track. The project recently lost $4 billion in federal funding and could run out of money by the end of 2027. Meanwhile, four consulting contractors received more than $250 million over two fiscal years, and all four were examined in an inspector general investigation into wasteful and unallowable travel expenses.
The board’s new approval rule is a specific oversight change, not a resolution of every question about consultant spending. In October, the board held a special meeting after an earlier report on travel expenses, but members did not directly question Choudri about the inspector general’s findings or the reporting. Choudri declined to answer questions afterward. The authority’s spokesperson said information was streamlined to keep the focus clear for the board and the public.
The practical impact is already visible in the records: taxpayers paid airfare, hotel stays and ground transport for out-of-state consultants, and the authority has now required advance legal approval for contract decisions within the CEO’s $25 million delegated authority. The reported staffing commitment was full-time work in Sacramento, but three of six key positions did not relocate. No separate filing deadline or new form is specified in the available material, and the authority did not provide answers about the higher billing rate. The board’s approval requirement and continued review of records are necessary steps for checking compliance; the details and outcomes of further oversight remain part of the process.
Mason Reed serves as a Staff Writer for Just Right News, where he spearheads the Future Frontiers & Special Projects desk. In an era defined by rapid technological shifts and evolving social landscapes, Mason provides a steady, principled voice, examining the innovations of tomorrow through the lens of traditional American values. His work is most prominently featured in his signature series, “The Next Horizon,” where he explores the intersection of emerging technology, national sovereignty, and the preservation of individual liberty.
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