The man hired to lead Dallas Area Rapid Transit is named in a Florida criminal investigation into spending at his former agency.
Nathaniel Ford resigned earlier this year as chief executive of the Jacksonville Transportation Authority and is set to start at DART later this month. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier’s Office of Statewide Prosecution has subpoenaed JTA as the agency tries to close a $39 million budget hole. A subpoena is a demand for records, not a finding that Ford or anyone else committed a crime.
JTA spokesperson Lynn Opperman said the authority received the subpoena and is prepared to cooperate, Jacksonville Today reported. Interim chief executive Cleveland Ferguson told the board that investigators want documents mainly from Oct. 1, 2023, through Oct. 21, 2025. The request covers the tuition reimbursement policy, contracts with an organizational development firm, and communications involving Ford, his wife, Janet Walker-Ford, and Kenston Griffin, founder of Dream Builders Communications. It also seeks ridership figures for NAVI, JTA’s downtown autonomous shuttle.
The Florida probe is looking at expenses during Ford’s tenure, including hotel stays, massages, murals and tuition reimbursements for highly paid executives. Former JTA board member Megan Hayward said records she uncovered showed about $171,000 in hotel stays over roughly 18 months, including $4,264.51 in London and $1,606.50 in Madrid for the chief executive, and $9,000 in Valencia for two executives. She said she was appointed to the board by Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan and later removed after she questioned the spending. Subpoenas in the probe also name Deegan. JTA has until Oct. 20 to produce the records. Ford is expected to start in Dallas one week later.
JTA has eliminated up to 194 jobs, cut bus schedules and halted NAVI and Skyway service. Jacksonville City Council President Nick Howland said a city committee will look at how the shortfall developed, separate from the attorney general’s investigation. He said projections went from a $2 million gap to nearly $31 million after Ford left.
FOX 4 said Ford has not returned calls about the investigation. DART’s board chair has not answered questions about whether the board will reconsider the hire. Ford had led JTA for 13 years and had planned to retire in January before DART selected him this summer.
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