加州高铁管理局首席执行官辞职：Choudri 递交辞职信，财政厅长 Stephenshaw 任临时首席执行官
加州高铁管理局（California High-Speed Rail Authority）首席执行官 Ian Choudri 已于 10 月 28 日晚递交辞职信并立即生效，管理局董事会 10 月 29 日在橙县 Anaheim 举行的会议上确认这一变动，并一致表决任命加州财政厅厅长 Joe Stephenshaw 为临时首席执行官。Choudri 在辞职信中表示，他辞职是为了专注于「重要的个人与家庭优先事项」（important personal and family priorities）。
董事会主席 Steve Kawa 在会上宣读声明说：「昨晚，董事会收到 Ian Choudri 辞去高铁管理局首席执行官职务的辞呈，立即生效。我们感谢 Choudri 先生对高铁项目的服务与贡献，祝他和家人一切顺利。」Kawa 表示，州长纽森今年向董事会任命了新成员，以加强该项目的问责、监督与透明度；董事会随后在闭门会议中一致表决通过对 Stephenshaw 的任命。
Stephenshaw 自 2022 年起担任加州财政厅厅长，是纽森的长期顾问，过去四年主导州长年度预算的编制。据报道，他将于 11 月 3 日正式到临时首席执行官任上，同时卸任财政厅厅长。州长办公室表示：「Joe Stephenshaw 过去四年作为财政厅厅长守护本州的预算，州长感谢他的服务，并确信他是过渡时期监督管理局的合适人选。」
Choudri 在写给员工的辞职信中说：「这个决定并不容易，领导管理局是我职业生涯中最有意义、最有收获的篇章之一。」他在信中为自己两年的任期辩护，称自己接手时，该项目「面临重大挑战和对其成功前景的严重质疑」，而他带领项目实现了扭转。对于媒体的置评请求，Choudri 没有回应。
此次辞职之前，管理局监察长办公室（Office of the Inspector General，OIG）9 月发布调查报告，查实该局在报销顾问差旅费用时未遵守州法规与合同要求。报告说，2024 年至 2026 年间，四家顾问公司的差旅报销中，经审查的部分约有 68.05 万美元、约占审查支出的 60%，未经州规要求的预先批准；其中约 59.2 万美元属不合规支出，包括头等舱机票、健身房、密室逃脱、夜总会和雪茄吧等消费。本月早些时候，董事会已投票限制 Choudri 的合同签署权，要求 2500 万美元以下的合同须经局内法律顾问签批。各顾问公司迄今已退还约 130 万美元被质疑的报销费用。
据报道，Choudri 辞职时，董事会正考虑是否批准给予他每年 2.5 万美元的奖金，他今年的薪酬总额超过 53.4 万美元；董事会也在权衡对他采取进一步的纪律处分，包括解职的可能。
加州高铁一期工程连接旧金山与洛杉矶、Anaheim，据管理局 2026 年商业计划估算，造价约 1260 亿美元；其中 Bakersfield 至 Merced 的首个运营段造价约 360 亿美元，预计 2033 年完工。监察长办公室今年 7 月警告，若无新的资金来源，该项目资金最快可能在 2027 年 12 月见底。联邦政府已于 2025 年 7 月撤回 40 亿美元的拨款。
Choudri 于 2024 年 8 月由董事会选定出任首席执行官，此前是工程公司 HNTB 的高级副总裁，曾参与法国和西班牙的高铁项目。他是该局自 2010 年以来的第四任首席执行官。
州参议员、参议院交通委员会成员 Tony Strickland 批评该项目领导层频繁更替。州众议院少数党领袖 Ali Macedo 在新闻稿中称高铁项目是「纳税人的黑洞」，要求董事会与临时首席执行官实行严格监督、提高透明度，并确保 Choudri 不得以高薪私人顾问的身份回到该项目。
关联：加州高铁监察长报告：68.05万美元顾问差旅未获事先批准，不合规支出含健身房、夜总会与雪茄吧
关联：加州「烂尾账本」走红华人社群：高铁、911、无家可归者拨款，逐项对照官方记录
关联：中美基建类比：高铁、大桥、调水三组同类项目，花销、工期、质量对照
关联：加州高铁监察长审查2026年商业计划：成本估算不可比，资金最快2027年12月耗尽
关联：加州高铁董事会收回首席执行官合同签署权：2500万美元以下合同须经内部律师审核
California High-Speed Rail CEO Resigns: Ian Choudri Steps Down, Finance Director Joe Stephenshaw Named Interim Chief Executive
Ian Choudri, chief executive officer of the California High-Speed Rail Authority, submitted his resignation on Wednesday night, October 28, effective immediately. The Authority's Board of Directors confirmed the departure at its meeting in Anaheim, Orange County, on Thursday, October 29, and voted unanimously to appoint California Director of Finance Joe Stephenshaw as interim chief executive officer. In his resignation letter, Choudri said he was stepping down to focus on "important personal and family priorities."
Board Chair Steve Kawa said in a statement read at the meeting: "Last night, the Board received Ian Choudri's resignation as CEO of the High-Speed Rail Authority, effective immediately. We thank Mr. Choudri for his service and his contributions to the high-speed rail program, and we wish him and his family well." Kawa said Governor Gavin Newsom appointed new members to the board this year to bring stronger accountability, oversight and transparency to the project, and that the board made the interim appointment in closed session.
Stephenshaw has served as director of the California Department of Finance since 2022 and is a longtime adviser to Newsom; over the past four years he has led the development of the governor's annual budget proposals. He is expected to begin the interim role on November 3, leaving his post as finance director. "Joe Stephenshaw has spent the last four years guarding the state's budget as Director of Finance. The Governor is grateful for that service and confident Joe is the right person to oversee the Authority in the interim," the governor's office said.
In a letter to employees, Choudri wrote: "This has not been an easy decision, as leading the Authority has been one of the most meaningful and rewarding chapters of my professional life." He defended his two-year record, writing that he took on a project facing significant challenges and serious questions about its prospects for success, and led its turnaround. Choudri did not respond to requests for comment.
The resignation follows a September report by the Authority's Office of Inspector General (OIG), which substantiated allegations that the Authority failed to comply with state regulations and contract requirements when reimbursing consultants' travel expenses. Of the consultant travel spending reviewed for 2024 through 2026, about $680,500 — roughly 60 percent — had not received the advance approval required by state rules, and about $592,000 was deemed unallowable, including first-class flights and charges at gyms, an escape room, a nightclub and cigar lounges. Earlier this month, the board voted to restrict Choudri's contracting authority, requiring the agency's in-house legal counsel to sign off on contracts under $25 million. Consulting firms have so far returned about $1.3 million in questioned charges.
At the time of his resignation, the board was weighing whether to approve a $25,000 annual bonus for Choudri, whose compensation this year exceeds $534,000, and was considering further discipline, including possible termination, according to reports.
The Authority's 2026 business plan pegs the cost of Phase 1 of the system, linking San Francisco with Los Angeles and Anaheim, at about $126 billion. The first operating segment, from Bakersfield to Merced, is projected to cost about $36 billion and is expected to be completed in 2033. In July, the inspector general warned the project could run out of money as early as December 2027 without new funding. The federal government withdrew $4 billion in grant funding in July 2025.
Choudri was selected by the board in August 2024. He had been a senior vice president at the engineering firm HNTB and had worked on high-speed rail projects in France and Spain. He is the Authority's fourth chief executive since 2010.
State Senator Tony Strickland, a Republican member of the Senate Transportation Committee, criticized the project's repeated leadership turnover. Assembly Minority Leader Ali Macedo called the project a "black hole for taxpayers" in a news release, urging the board and the interim chief executive to institute rigorous oversight and demand more transparency, and to ensure Choudri is not allowed to transition into a highly paid private consultant for the project at public expense.
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：图：加州高铁管理局首席执行官 Ian Choudri 官方肖像。加州高铁管理局（California High-Speed Rail Authority）官方照片，政府公有领域。 / Official portrait of Ian Choudri, Chief Executive Officer of the California High-Speed Rail Authority. Official Authority photo, public domain.
