Sen. Steve Glazer, a Democrat from Orinda, introduced Senate Bill 827 on Feb. 17. The bill would expand the scope of the Office of the Inspector General, allowing it to access all records, documents, accounts, reports, communication or other property of BART or its third-party contractors.
SB 827 would also make it a misdemeanor crime to obstruct the OIG, punishable by up to six months in jail, a fine of up to $1,000 or both.
If approved in its current form, the bill would bring BART's OIG into closer alignment with the authority held by watchdog offices that oversee transit agencies like Caltrain and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority as well as the California State Auditor.
BART Inspector General Harriet Richardson Thursday told the agency's Board of Directors during a presentation on the bill that her staff supports the legislation.
A week ago, Richardson informed the board, to which her office reports, that she will resign on March 17, months ahead of the end of her term in August.
Richardson has argued that BART management have obstructed the OIG's efforts to monitor the agency since the office was created in 2018.
Independent investigators, as well as Glazer, have supported that assertion: a report last year by the Alameda County Civil Grand Jury found that BART's OIG "is significantly underfunded and unable to fulfill its mission of uncovering waste, fraud and abuse."
The budget for BART's OIG has not changed from the $1 million annual budget with which it began.
