When a new board chairman vows to double down on communication, you’d think he’d actually talk to reporters. But that’s not what happened on Monday when Steve Kawa, freshly elected chair of the California High-Speed Rail Authority’s board of directors, ignored KCRA 3’s attempts to interview him after the meeting ended. It’s the second month in a row that key project leaders have dodged the press while simultaneously championing the need for better communication — and it raises some uncomfortable questions about what transparency actually means at the rail authority.
This isn’t Kawa’s first rodeo. He’s been working in politics for decades, mostly in the San Francisco Mayor’s office, and has spent considerable time advising Gov. Gavin Newsom. He’s also managing the Protocol Foundation, which handles fundraising for the governor’s out-of-state trips. But none of that political experience seemed to translate into a willingness to face basic journalistic scrutiny on Monday. When reporters tried to catch Kawa’s attention near the meeting dais, Peter Whippy, the High-Speed Rail Authority’s Chief of External Affairs, stepped in and escorted him out the door — no questions answered.
The pattern mirrors what happened in April with CEO Ian Choudri, who refused to grant an interview after another board meeting. His spokesman wanted to limit the questions journalists could ask, specifically trying to prevent questions about Choudri’s arrest and a relationship that triggered a state investigation into him earlier this year (he’s since been cleared). The message is clear: leadership wants to control the narrative on its terms, not respond to public scrutiny.
This comes at a particularly fraught moment. Kawa has replaced Tom Richards, who abruptly left the board last month — and nobody’s been transparent about why. Richards had been on the board since 2010 and led it since 2020. The vagueness around his departure fuels suspicion about what’s actually happening inside the rail authority. Meanwhile, the project itself is in serious trouble: the original LA-to-San Francisco vision could cost between $126 billion and $231 billion, and the state is short roughly $90 billion in funding. For a project already plagued by delays and cost overruns, the leadership’s apparent disdain for public accountability is the last thing it needs.
During Monday’s board meeting, Kawa did say the right things. I love this theme about communication, he offered. A lot of issues and problems are the result of two things: miscommunication and lack of communication. I know the authority, Ian, the whole staff as well as this board of directors wants to make sure we double down and triple down on communicating to our partners throughout the state of California. But talk is cheap when you won’t actually talk to anyone. The board did approve a controversial $3.5 billion contract with joint venture Kiewit, Stacy Witbeck, Herzog, and unanimously backed a contentious business plan that some members themselves acknowledged could do a better job explaining what the rail authority actually intends to do versus what it’s merely considering. Several updates to that business plan were made before the vote, though it’s unclear how much time the public had to review them.
For a project asking Sacramento and California taxpayers for massive financial commitment, the unwillingness of its leaders to engage with journalists — and by extension, the public — isn’t just bad optics. It’s a fundamental breach of trust. Senator Dave Cortese, the California Senate Transportation Chair, made his own expectations clear during a recent hearing: 30 days means 30 days. It doesn’t mean 6 months. He’s demanding transparency and adherence to deadlines from high-speed rail leadership. On Monday, the rail authority had a chance to model that kind of accountability. Instead, it chose the door.
About the Author
Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson is a contributor to LocalBeat, covering local news and community stories.
