CA Democrats this week voted to block an independent state audit of the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) requested by CA State Assemblymember Carl DeMaio. DeMaio blasted the decision saying “given SANDAG’s history of financial scandals and broken promises, an independent audit was the only way taxpayers can get answers they deserve and now the politicians – at SANDAG’s request – have blocked the audit.”
DeMaio requested the audit after years of financial problems at SANDAG and allegations that the agency diverted taxpayer funds intended for road repairs and congestion relief into unrelated projects, including bike lanes, environmental programs, walking trails, beach sand replenishment, and public art installations.
“SANDAG taxpayers were promised traffic relief, road improvements, and highway expansion projects — but instead, billions are being diverted into pet projects that make traffic worse and fail to deliver what voters paid for,” said DeMaio.
DeMaio’s audit request specifically asked investigators to determine whether SANDAG improperly used transportation funds to:
- Remove traffic lanes to construct bikeways and pedestrian paths
- Fund environmental mitigation and habitat restoration projects unrelated to highway operations
- Pay for beach sand replenishment projects
- Construct community art installations
- Expand overhead and administrative spending at the expense of promised transportation improvements
DeMaio blasted SANDAG leadership for showing up to the Joint Legislative Audit Committee hearing to formally oppose the audit request.
“What is SANDAG afraid of that they oppose an independent audit? This is exactly why taxpayers no longer trust SANDAG,” DeMaio said. “The agency has a pattern of hiding failures, wasting money, and putting ideological agenda projects ahead of actual transportation priorities.”