Hill writes HSR conflict of interest law

Assemblymember Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, on Monday will introduce new legislation that would require California High-Speed Rail Authority board members publicly declare any potential conflicts of interest during a meeting.

Should a board member have a conflict of interest, it must be declared during the meeting and the board member must leave before deliberations get under way.

Hill said the legislation closes a loophole in a 2002 law that called for members of many boards to publicly declare potential conflicts of interest, because the High-Speed Rail Authority didn't exist at the time.

Published reports that members of the board had been paid tens of thousands of dollars in consulting fees by firms with financial interests in the $43 billion project prompted the legislation, according to a statement from Hill.

In the statement, Hill promised to explore solutions to tighten the project's cost-controls, a concern heightened in October when the California Inspector General concluded the authority had not properly documented millions of dollars in payments to consultants.

A member of the Assembly Select Committee on High-Speed Rail, Hill also applauded a ruling issued Wednesday by the state attorney general that came to the conclusion the mayor of Anaheim and members of the Los Angeles and Orange counties' transportation boards may not serve simultaneously on the Rail Authority.

"Voters who approved this project need to be assured their money is being spent wisely," he said in the statement. "If not, this project could be stopped in its tracks."