Lawmakers' ill-fated SUV costs taxpayers a bundle

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The SUV from hell or just plain unlucky - either way, the state-owned, 2007 Toyota Highlander that's been assigned to two of San Francisco's state senators over the past four years has cost Californians well over $400,000.

This costly taxpayer ride began four years ago when then-state Sen. Carole Migden traded in her state-leased, $53,000 Cadillac STS for the greener Highlander hybrid.

The new wheels, which came complete with leather seats and moon roof, cost $41,078.

A few months later, Migden made motor news when she went on a wild 30-mile ride through Marin and Solano counties, sideswiping a guard rail and finally rear-ending a Honda at a red light.

Migden, who blamed her erratic driving on medication she was taking, was headed to a meeting with former Marin Assemblyman Joe Nation to talk about his endorsement for her re-election.

The trip proved to be a costly one for taxpayers:

-- $335,000 to settle the Honda driver's injury lawsuit.

-- Plus $16,798 to repair the rear-ended car.

-- Plus $9,681 to fix Migden's Highlander.

All paid by the public, because Migden was supposedly on state business.

Migden paid a big price as well, losing her bid for re-election. Afterward, she sent her newly fixed Highlander back to the lot, where it was handed over to San Francisco state Sen. Leland Yee.

A few months later, Yee's wife, Maxine, got into an accident in the sport utility vehicle on Interstate 280 near San Bruno after dropping off the senator at the airport.

She was treated at a hospital for minor injuries, and the once-again-wrecked Highlander was hauled off to a Berkeley repair shop.

The California Highway Patrol found that Maxine Yee was at fault in the accident for driving at an unsafe speed - a finding she challenged. Her husband filed an accident report with the state, claiming the car was being used for official business and therefore eligible for full coverage by the state.

The final bill: $22,897.

That brings taxpayer costs associated with the ill-fated Highlander to $425,454.

Yee's chief of staff, Adam Keigwin, said his office certainly had no control over what happened on Migden's watch, nor over the state's decision to repair the car.

"Those decisions are made totally by the Department of General Services, and we have to live with them," he said.

Cursed as it may be, the Highlander isn't the only legislative vehicle involved in a costly accident.

In the past two years, Department of General Services records show, the state has paid 95 Senate and Assembly accident repair claims totaling $227,572 - and that doesn't include any of the costs from Migden's collision.

As for the pressing state business that required Yee to be dropped off at the airport at 5 a.m.?

According to Keigwin, Yee's calendar shows he caught a 6:10 a.m. flight to L.A. to meet with Dr. Gary Gitnick, a former state medical board member.

Keigwin said the two men met to discuss what Yee hopes will become a legislative proposal in the coming year to recognize traditional Chinese acupuncture and other medical procedures more commonly performed in Asia by so-called traumatologists.

Keigwin said Yee has taken up the cause on behalf of his Chinese American constituents.

Derailed: The BART board's surprise, closed-door vote last week to ask for General Manager Dorothy Dugger's resignation came down to a varied list of grievances.

For starters, sources say, new BART Director Robert Raburn blamed agency brass for problems with faulty design work on two pedestrian walkways at the West Dublin/Pleasanton Station.

That drove up the project's cost by millions of dollars and delayed the opening of the station - now scheduled for this week.

BART board Vice President John McPartland confirmed that he and fellow Director James Fang have been unhappy with Dugger for some time. Among their grievances was her decision to force out BART Police Chief Gary Gee following the fatal shooting of Oscar Grant by one of his officers.

The feeling was Gee was going to retire at the end of last year anyway, "and it was unnecessary and was done for political expediency," McPartland said.

One board member, speaking on background, said Thursday's 5-4 vote to ask for Dugger's resignation was more driven by her "attitude" toward directors than any single issue.

The board quickly rescinded its vote once BART lawyers said the directors hadn't given sufficient notice for their action.

If Dugger does eventually go, it will probably cost BART plenty. For starters, she's entitled to a full year's pay - $332,700 - plus medical and dental benefits for life.

Plus, there are already rumblings that the board may have exposed itself to a possible lawsuit over the clumsy handling of the dismissal.

EXTRA! Catch our blog at www.sfgate.com/matierandross.