They have yet to lay a single track, but the California High-Speed Rail Authority has spent some $12.5 million on public relations in the past two years - with a number of politically connected consultants getting in on the ride.
In one six-month window:
-- Mike Villines, the former Republican assemblyman, billed a Central Valley rail contractor for $108,631.
-- Denise LaPointe, a former chief of staff to ex-San Francisco state senator and former High-Speed Rail Authority board member Quentin Kopp, billed for $53,444. That was just part of the $350,288 paid to her firm since October 2009.
-- Nicole Franklin, a former Oakland city planning commissioner, got $45,138 - including a portion of LaPointe's work.
-- Mike Lynch, the former chief of staff to onetime Assemblyman Gary Condit, billed for $31,748.
-- Plus former Kern County Supervisor Gene Tackett ($70,652), and Sara Katz, a staffer to former Gov. Pete Wilson and onetime San Diego Mayor Susan Golding, whose monthly billings for the first half of the year totaled $43,505.
"Frankly I can't see one benefit of that $12.5 million in spending," said state Assemblyman Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo.
"To me this is indicative of the operations of the High-Speed Rail Authority to this point, which from what we've seen is pretty much a failure."
Statewide, some 20 PR outfits have worked on the project since 2007 as part of nine regional engineering contracts.
In 2009, however, rail authority directors - worried that they needed to sell the project statewide - awarded a five-year contract worth $9 million to Ogilvy Public Relations, a major national firm.
After paying Ogilvy about $3 million, the authority was not happy with its performance and the two sides agreed to a parting of the ways.
In the meantime, as shrinking federal dollars put the future of the train line in doubt, the authority has still budgeted $2.5 million for PR this fiscal year.
Rail authority officials say the spending on public outreach has been reasonable given the size and complexity of the project.
