The largest federal government grant in local DEI history is now on the chopping block.
According to the Jacksonville Daily Record, Nat Ford, CEO of the Jacksonville Transportation Authority, recently told the JAX Chamber Downtown Council the authority is working hard to protect the $147 million federal grant for the city’s Emerald Trail. The grant was bestowed upon us by the Biden Administration last year. Ford claimed stakeholders are “very concerned” over the grant’s fate.
“In Washington, there’s a review of all grants that are underway, obligated and unobligated grants, in terms of do they fit into the new administration’s vision related to transportation infrastructure,” Ford said.
Hmmm. Why the concern?
Back in January, President Donald Trump made his “vision related to transportation infrastructure” quite clear via executive order.
President Trump’s executive order called for the termination of all “diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities in the Federal Government, under whatever name they appear.”
Uh oh. I sense trouble.
Two months later, Sean Duffy, U.S. transportation secretary, ordered a review of all federal transportation projects and to either cancel or renegotiate anything involving DEI, climate change, gender ideology, as well as infrastructure for bicycles, EVs and charging stations.
That is a huge problem for the Jacksonville Transportation Authority. Perhaps the decision made by its “visionary” CEO to enshrine DEI as JTA’s SOP, might come back to bite him in the a**. Jokes aside, JTA and Mayor Donna Deegan should be extremely concerned. The $147 million federal grant Jax received to allegedly fund the Emerald Trail was awarded by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s “Neighborhood Access & Equity Program.” So, yeah… they are so screwed.
Just for funzies, let’s let Deegan’s own words explain why the city desperately needed 30 miles of paves sidewalks surrounding the city’s urban core, formally known as “pre-consolidated Jacksonville.”
Spoiler alert: its racism.
In March 2024, Team Deegan held a press conference to celebrate receiving the $147 million transportation grant. During the presser, Deegan explained infrastructure isn’t about roads and bridges. Mayor Deegan claimed building new stuff, because the old stuff was built by racist liars, dismantles pretend “structural racism” by connecting people.
“It is one of the biggest goals of this grant. Reconnecting neighborhoods that were cut off by transportation and infrastructure decisions implemented decades ago. Schools, jobs, medical offices, places of worship, they will soon be more accessible for those neighborhoods that have been left behind. It’s one of the ways we are making good on the broken promises of consolidation,” Deegan proudly said. She went on to say the trail will also address “climate risks,” create “affordable housing” and “a more resilient city.”
Oopsies. Well… the good news is, based on the number of views, most of them mine, it is safe to say no one heard the mayor’s speech.
Groundwork Jacksonville, a local ideological nonprofit, begged the city for years to build the trail. The organization Groundwork USA’s local chapter. The organization works hard teaching Earth itself is racist because Mother Nature excludes “black and brown” people from going outside. The only way for people who are not white to gain access to nature is for the nonprofit’s DEI missionaries to continue “undoing the legacies of poverty and racial discrimination” by creating a future where every neighborhood is “green, healthy and resilient.”
Kay Ehas, CEO of Groundwork Jacksonville, said the Emerald Trail will “prevent displacement” and “increase prosperity,” for people living along the trail.
Uh oh… I’m getting some pretty strong DEI/ESG vibes from the Groundwork lady, her organization’s world view and the mayor’s celebratory speech.
Hopefully, Duffy and his team don’t have access to the internet, so they won’t be able to find video of the press conference, Groundwork Jacksonville’s website, or my articles exposing JTA’s DEI SOPs.
Just in case Duffy’s team gains access to a web browser:
JTA has been loud and proud over its complete ideological DEI makeover, costing taxpayers millions. Details here:
https://eyeonjacksonville.com/jacksonvilles-emerald-trail-paves-over-consolidations-broken-promises/
https://eyeonjacksonville.com/jta-dei-consultants-oh-my/
https://www.groundworkjacksonville.org/
Jacksonville’s Emerald Trail paves over consolidation’s broken promises
Emerald Trail Presser
