Before executing its next construction contract, the Authority should establish formal prerequisites for beginning construction to prevent avoidable cost overruns and project delays. At a minimum, these prerequisites should identify specific benchmarks related to property acquisition, utility agreements and relocations, and agreements with external stakeholders, including impacted local governments and other railroad operators.
To enable policymakers and the public to track the Authority's progress toward meeting the Recovery Act deadline in 2022, the Authority should begin providing quarterly updates to the Legislature detailing the progress of Central Valley construction by January 2019.
To improve its contract management, increase accountability, and demonstrate that the significant amounts it pays for contracted services are justified, the Authority should take the following steps by May 2019:
• Prioritize contract management efforts by establishing a process for hiring and assigning full-time, experienced contract managers.
• Require CMSU to establish a schedule to monitor contract manager compliance, and help ensure the unit's integrity by staffing it with full-time contract managers who are state employees.
• Hold contract managers accountable for performing the duties that the Authority's policies assign to them. The Authority should require and review documentation of the contract managers' compliance with these policies and related procedures.
To help ensure that it meets its sustainability goals, the Authority should comprehensively compare the environmental impact of its construction to its baseline estimates on a quarterly basis by May 2019.