JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Former Jacksonville Transportation Authority CEO Nat Ford will testify before the City Council Finance Committee regarding the authority’s financial matters on Oct. 23, as reported by our news partners at the Jacksonville Daily Record.
The committee voted 7-1 on Oct. 20, with member Rahman Johnson dissenting, to subpoena Ford to testify regarding the authority’s financial matters.
Ford’s testimony would come in his last week with JTA, where the authority has said he is serving in an advisory capacity after Cleveland Ferguson took over as interim CEO.
Ford is set to depart JTA to lead Dallas Area Rapid Transit, where he was hired after his resignation in Jacksonville.
Ford would be set to testify at 11:15 a.m. Oct. 23. However, committee members said that should Ford be willing to speak to the committee but could not attend that day, they would be amenable to adjusting to his schedule.
Some committee members expressed concern that Ford’s testimony was being compelled too hastily. Council member Ron Salem, not a Finance Committee member, said he wanted to hear from other JTA executives before issuing the subpoena to Ford.
“I just don’t want to jump to a subpoena when it is maybe we haven’t given enough time to at least answer the question, because then it turns into almost an adversarial process, unnecessarily,” said Johnson, who was the Council liaison to JTA until July.
Those committee members who voted in favor of the subpoena said that while they were disappointed with the pace at which they moved, they felt it was necessary to hear from Ford before his move to Texas.
“If Mr. Ford had like six more months on his contract … I would start at the bottom, work my way up, get the documents first, get a really nice set of questions. I would love to do it that way,” said Council member Rory Diamond, the current Council liaison to JTA.
“But Mr. Ford is an employee of JTA until end of today, tomorrow, and then he’ll be headed to go be the CEO of DART next week.”
Council President Nick Howland and committee member Chris Miller, who serves on the Financial Audit and Oversight Committee looking into JTA’s finances, said they had both reached out to Ford in the hours before the Finance Committee meeting, with no response.
Ford’s subpoena before the committee comes amid a criminal investigation by the Florida Office of the Attorney General. JTA has received two subpoenas by Richard Mantei, an investigator with the attorney general’s office specializing in public corruption.
Those subpoenas have focused on certain contracts between JTA and private companies, the authority’s tuition reimbursement program, certain communication between JTA and other public officials, employee travel, JTA sponsorships and ridership numbers.
The subpoena by the committee also serves as a reversal from a position previously held by several Council members that they did not want a full investigation into JTA’s practices.
While the Council’s Financial Audit and Oversight Committee was set up in September to analyze potential changes to spending on capital projects by the authority, Howland did not grant that committee the ability to compel testimony.
Ford resigned from JTA on July 3, without providing a reason. While his resignation was initially effective Jan. 8, 2027, Ford’s hiring at DART pushed that date up to October. He is slated to begin his work Oct. 26 with DART.
The DART board voted 9-6 on July 14 to name one of three candidates its next CEO, but did not formally name Ford as its choice until July 21.
Ford’s selection brought some pushback from DART board members and public speakers as its selection, with some citing “red flags” they felt had come up during Ford’s time at JTA.
Those included JTA’s financial issues, which had not yet fully come to light but had been included in media reports, and the authority’s trimming of some paratransit and bus services while continuing to service autonomous vehicles Downtown.
But a majority of board members said they felt their questions about Ford’s past had been answered, as Ford addressed those issues to the board during its July 21 meeting, which was partly held behind closed doors.
DART’s board chair said he spoke to Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan, along with JTA board members. Chair Randall Bryant said Deegan told him that “I hope Dallas is fortunate enough to get him.”
Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.
Source: www.news4jax.com
