The Jacksonville Transportation Authority is preparing to cut up to 194 jobs, reduce bus and ferry service, and indefinitely pause the Skyway and NAVI.
Nat Ford? Apparently, he’s the one service JTA can’t afford to cut.
According to the Florida Times-Union, Ford will remain on the payroll through Oct. 21 in an “as-needed advisory role” to interim CEO Cleveland Ferguson III.
Ford’s $475,904 annual salary works out to nearly $40,000 a month. Add another grand a month for his personal vehicle on top of his JTA-paid insurance premiums, and that’s one expensive taxpayer-funded phone-a-friend.
Especially for an interim CEO who has served on JTA’s executive leadership team since 2015.
A few days after Ford leaves JTA, he will take over as the CEO of Dallas Area Rapid Transit, where his first-year salary, executive allowance, and $80,000 relocation payment add up to $607,000.
Back in Jax, JTA is currently facing a projected $32.8 million in cost overruns, owes more than $22 million in unpaid bills, and recently secured a $40 million line of credit – and now wants emergency permission from city council to use gas tax money to help cover expenses.
City Council member and JTA liaison Rory Diamond says Ford should head to Dallas so Jacksonville can “clean up this mess.”
The Skyway is stopping. NAVI is stopping. But somehow Ford’s paycheck keeps rolling right along.
