DeSaulnier Blasts High-Speed Rail Commission's Secrecy

Saying that the process is insufficiently transparent, State Sen. Mark DeSaulnier (D-Concord) is criticizing the way state officials are evaluating five bids to build the first stretch of California’s high-speed rail system.

This week, developers vying to lay the initial 29 miles of track in the Central Valley will formally deliver their bids to Sacramento. However, the amounts will remain sealed and secret so evaluators can first weigh the proposals on their technical merits. De Saulnier doesn’t agree with that approach, according to the Bay Area News Group.

"The process is supposed to be transparent," DeSaulnier told BANG. "Once the bid is in, it's in the public domain, and the public needs to (be able to see) what the bids look like, especially on a project like this."

The whole project, the most expensive in California’s history, was approved by voters four years ago and is expected to cost almost $70 billion.