California's High Speed Rail project just can't seem to catch a break. After twenty years of "progress" the first part of the line is set to actually start laying some track this year. Gov. Gavin Newsom's website made a big deal about this milestone a couple weeks ago.
Today, Governor Gavin Newsom, alongside state and community leaders, celebrated the completion of the California High-Speed Rail Authority’s Southern Railhead Facility in Kern County, marking a significant step forward in building the nation’s first high-speed rail system and advancing the future of clean, connected transportation.
“With the completion of the Southern Railhead Facility, we’ve taken another critical step in the track-laying stage. California is building the nation’s first high-speed rail system, and we’re proving it can be done. We’re laying the foundation for cleaner, faster, and more connected transportation while investing in communities and creating good-paying jobs. California isn’t waiting for the future. We’re building it.”
The railhead facility was a project to lay track for the freight trains that will bring all of the materials needed to start laying the actual track for the high speed trains. So when does track for those trains actually start going in? Well, sometime in 2026. They're still in the process of buying the materials. But even so, High-Speed Rail Authority CEO Ian Choudri echoed Gov. Newsom's statements that this was real progress.
“This major milestone reflects the work happening on the ground and a delivery approach focused on partnerships with the Governor and Legislature,” said California High-Speed Rail Authority CEO Ian Choudri. “The railhead facility is a critical step in the track-installation process and keeps us on pace to deliver this system smarter, faster and more economically. With procurements underway on laying of electrified track and systems, including new and innovative pathways opening for private sector investment, we’re building the foundation for long-term success and continued momentum.”
Do I think being almost ready to lay track on a section of the project where there are no people after 20 years and billions of dollars spent is something to celebrate? No, not really. But compared to the usual level of disaster this project has been in over the past decade, this was a good day.
Later that night Ian Choudri, the High-Speed Rail CEO, was arrested:
The Folsom Police Department confirmed with FOX40.com that Ian Choudri, CEO of the California High-Speed Rail Authority, was arrested on suspicion of domestic battery earlier this month.
On Feb. 4, Folsom police said officers arrested Choudri in the 500 block of Borges Court in Folsom. The arrest was made one day after California Governor Gavin Newsom and Choudri were celebrating the completion of the California High-Speed Rail Authority’s Southern Railhead Facility in Kern County.
What happened? Apparently his fiance got into an argument with his teenage daughter. Both Choudri and the fiance were arrested shortly after midnight. He was booked but the DA declined to file charges.
According to Folsom police logs, Ian Choudri, 57, was arrested just after midnight Feb. 4 after officers were called to his home. Police said officers responded to the residence and took Choudri and his fiancée, Lyudmyla Starostyuk, 46, into custody on suspicion of misdemeanor battery. A spokesperson for the Folsom Police Department confirmed the arrest and said both were booked and released from the Sacramento County Main Jail downtown.
Allen Sawyer, an attorney for Choudri and Starostyuk, said the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office “immediately” declined to file charges after Folsom police forwarded the incident...
The District Attorney’s Office in a statement Tuesday said its investigators did not find sufficient evidence to charge Choudri before his expected arraignment on Feb. 6 because they could not determine a clear “dominate aggressor” in the incident.
“Since the evidence does not clearly demonstrate a ‘dominant aggressor’ we determined there was insufficient evidence to file charges to sustain our burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt,” it said.
I'm not familiar with this "dominate aggressor" thing. It sounds a bit like how DAs sometimes deem rival gang members to be "mutual combatants" which disqualifies either party from claiming self-defense. Anyway, Choudri is now on leave while the incident is investigated. And the attention brought by his arrest has also revealed that his fiance was working for a company doing work on the rail project.
Ian Choudri has been on leave since Tuesday after KCRA 3 first reported police arrested him earlier this month on suspicion of misdemeanor domestic violence. Details of what exactly led to his arrest have not been made public, and prosecutors have said they won't press charges because there's not enough evidence that he committed a crime...
Also arrested that night for a similar offense was Choudri's fiancé, Lyudmyla Starostyuk. Starostyuk's LinkedIn shows she was hired last month by accounting services firm KPMG, which state records show has a $24 million contract with the High-Speed Rail.
"The board is going to appropriately investigate not only the issues that were brought to light but some of these broader issues as well," the governor said at a public transportation-related news conference in the Bay Area.
To be clear, the fiance was not working for Choudri or for any state agency. She's at an accounting company that happens to have a contract to run the books for the rail project. At this point, there's no proof anyone did anything wrong. But it is under investigation which, on top of the fight and the arrest, is not a great look.
Finally, the fact that the governor is promising an investigation doesn't make it sound like he has a lot of confidence in Choudri. Again, he may not have done anything wrong but at a certain point the bad PR becomes a problem for a project that has plenty of bad PR already. Stay tuned to find out if he keeps his job or decides to spend more time with his family.
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