Regional Transportation Council Executive Director Matt Ransom trusts David Evans and Associates with another transportation contract. Sadly, Vancouver City Councilors Jack Burkman and Anne McEnerny-Ogle, Ridgefield Mayor Ron Onslow, and Washougal City Council member Paul Greenlee agree. RTC will pay DEA $137,600 to study C-Tran buses driving on shoulders of Interstate 205 and state Highway 14.
Yes, the same David Evans that mismanaged our Columbia River Crossing, allowing a “$50 million maximum” contract to balloon to almost $200 million.
Forensic accountant Tiffany Couch analyzed CRC spending, finding millions unaccounted for in Evans’ bookkeeping. Couch examined thousands of pages of electronic CRC documents. Besides the significantly overbudget contract, anomalies included misreporting costs to build interchanges and the bridge, thus inflating the need for tolls; misreporting funding sources to pay for the project; and millions of dollars in invoices lacking appropriate names and accounting codes to identify services rendered.
Washington state’s auditor identified $17 million in “excess and questionable costs” or “higher than typical and questionable charges.”
