Copyright 2004, Contra Costa Times

Bay Bridge meeting a secret

(Contra Costa Times 11/30/04) -- A national review panel met in secret with Caltrans engineers Monday to help select a new design for the eastern span of the $5.1 billion Bay Bridge, but state officials refuse to disclose the identities of the panel members.

The 17-member panel was created to offer the Schwarzenegger administration advice on how to proceed with the controversial bridge project.

Public records advocates said that state law does not provide for confidentiality in this case and that the panel should be made public.

"Certainly the public has a right to know whether the entire contingent consists of experts from the Big Dig project," said Peter Scheer, executive director of the California First Amendment Coalition. The Big Dig is Boston's $14 billion system of underground freeways that has been criticized for ballooning budgets and leaky tunnels.

The Contra Costa Times filed an information request under the California Public Records Act, but the state so far has refused to name the panel members.

"We're trying to make sure they can get their work done without the glare of the media spotlight," said Patrick Dorinson, spokesman for the state agency that oversees Caltrans.