Nat Ford starts his new job Oct. 26 at Dallas Area Rapid Transit but Jacksonville Jacksonville City Council still wants him to make one more trip to Jacksonville City Hall for questions — either in person at the podium or virtually via a video screen connection —about financial problems that will impact JTA long after his departure.
City Council members kept a subpoena in force for Ford after he declined to to appear on Oct. 23 to answer their questions about JTA's fiscal upheaval that triggered a downgrade by Fitch Ratings.
Ford left open the door to appearing before City Council at a date yet to be determined after he becomes CEO of Dallas Area Rapid Transit agency.
Ford is moving on from Jacksonville as JTA deals with the aftershocks of two
straight years of steep deficit spending that caused Fitch Ratings to drop JTA's issue default rating by two notches from AA+ to AA-.
Fitch said Oct. 21that JTA suffered "diminished financial resilience" caused by "weak budgeting practices and controls."
Chief Financial Officer Randall Barnes, who joined JTA on July 20 and has been working to stabilize the agency, said a ratings downgrade is "never good" but the new rating of AA- is still solid and the change will not affect JTA's cost for outstanding debt tied to specific revenue sources.
"Obviously, it's a reputational hit," Barnes told the City Council's Financial Audit and Oversight Select Committee on Oct. 23. "We don't want to look worse than we already do and we're going to do everything we can to right the ship and make sure the community can be proud of our finances."
The City Council Finance Committee voted Oct. 20 to issue a subpoena calling on Ford to appear at a special meeting of the Finance Committee on Oct. 23. Financial Audit and Oversight Select Committee Chair Chris Miller separately sent an email Oct. 20 requesting Ford come before the select committee on Oct. 23.
![Jacksonville Transportation Authority CEO Nat Ford addresses the crowd during the Jacksonville Transportation Authority’s ribbon-cutting ceremony for the launch Monday of passengers being able to ride in the nation's first autonomous vehicle service called NAVI at VyStar Ballpark Friday June 27, 2025. [Doug Engle/Florida Times-Union]](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/authoring/authoring-images/2025/06/27/NFTU/84386695007-jki-autonomousvehicleribboncutting-jacksonville-007.JPG)
Ford declined to appear before either committee. He wrote in an Oct. 22 letter to Miller that during his nearly 14 years as CEO of JTA, he always responded when City Council asked him to "discuss the successes and challenges we share. That will never change."
Ford wrote that his employment with JTA ended Oct. 21 and he had already arranged on his personal schedule to not be in Jacksonville on Oct. 23.
"Nevertheless, I will get back to you at the appropriate time to continue this conversation," Ford wrote.
Council President Howland says Nat Ford could appear virtually
City Council President Nick Howland said Ford could appear in person or another option would be a virtual appearance from Dallas where Ford would be sworn in with a notary by his side.
"We don't want to hinder him but we want the information from him so we'll work it out collaboratively," Howland said.
The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office served the Finance Committee's subpoena on Ford at his home on Oct. 22. City Council member Rory Diamond, who is the council's liaison to JTA, said based on his conversations with representatives of Ford, the message from them was that City Council can work with Ford on scheduling a date.
"So in my opinion, he's not thumbing his nose at the committee by not being here," Diamond said. "I did not expect him to be here and since he's still under subpoena, my expectation is that we'll simply work out a date for him to come at some point down the road."
City Council member Rahman Johnson, who opposed issuing the subpoena, tried unsuccessfully to get the Finance Committee to rescind it. Johnson said the Finance Committee moved too fast on the subpoena before trying to work with Ford on an agreeable date.
General Counsel Michael Fackler said if City Council were to drop the subpoena, it would be relying solely on Ford's goodwill to answer their questions.
"His goodwill might be sufficient for you to feel confident to move forward," Fackler said. "That's a decision for you, gentlemen, but from a legal perspective, you do lose significant leverage."
City Council member Matt Carlucci said council members will be "spinning our wheels" until Ford steps up and agrees to take questions. Carlucci said he'll pay for the gas for Ford to drive back to Jacksonville from Dallas.
"He knows what's happened and if he's made some mistakes, I'll be the first to forgive him and let's move on and fix this thing," Carlucci said at the Financial Audit and Oversight Select Committee meeting.
Mayor Deegan: Ford should answer questions 'as soon as possible'
Mayor Donna Deegan said she agrees Ford should answer questions from City Council.
"We all want to understand how we got here and he is best positioned to provide answers," Deegan said in a statement. "It's important for JTA's future and all the people impacted that this discussion happens as soon as possible."
JTA, which is an independent agency, twice blew a hole in its budget with a $19 million deficit in the 2024-25 fiscal year followed by a $40 million deficit in 2025-26.
Barnes said it's not surprising that ratings agencies like Fitch are flagging financial issues facing JTA.
"Our reserve balances have been depleted and our cash balances are low and we haven't done a great job of managing our budget," he told the Financial Audit and Oversight Select Committee.
JTA says tighter budget controls are now in place
To right-size spending with revenues for the fiscal year that started Oct. 1, JTA is in the process of carrying out about 200 layoffs, eliminating lower-ridership bus routes, reducing frequency and hours of service for some other routes, indefinitely halting Skyway service on Nov. 1 and doing the same for the NAVI autonomous transit shuttles after Dec. 30.
Barnes said JTA has instituted financial controls to keep spending within this year's $139.2 million budget and will regularly give the JTA board both year-to-date financial snapshots and projections for where the budget will stand at the end of the fiscal year.
He said JTA will keep looking for further savings and use any surpluses to reduce the agency's debt from a line of credit or replenish JTA's reserves.
He said City Council worked in coordination with Deegan's office and the JTA board to help the agency by letting it use local gas tax money for budget stabilization.
And the JTA board will vote at its next meeting on hiring an auditor with no connection to the agency for a deep dive into what happened.
Barnes said those actions show "strong community support and governance" that rating agencies will view favorably as they keep tabs on JTA finances.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Council keeps subpoena for Nat Ford as rating agency dings JTA's grade
