Jeff Morales, CEO of the California High Speed Rail Authority, will leave the post on June 2. A former California Dept. of Transportation director, he has led, since 2012, the contentious $64-billion program to build a 500-mile high-speed line between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Under his watch, it has overcome right-of-way suits and other legal challenges to get 119 miles of construction underway in three design-build contracts, totaling $3 billion. Even so, the project is three years behind schedule. On April 20, the authority sold $1.25 billion in state bonds for the project, the second sale authorized under a $9.85-billion measure approved in 2008. But the state deputy treasurer sued to stop the funds, claiming 2016 legislation allowing their use to electrify an existing rail segment near San Francisco violates the measure’s intent. The Trump administration also deferred a $647-million federal project grant, pending a full audit.