Jacksonville Transportation Authority Executive Director Michael Blaylock apologized Thursday to JTA board members and vowed to make policy changes, both actions a response to a Florida Times-Union investigation into JTA bus drivers’ criminal and driving records.
Thursday’s meeting was the first since the report, with Blaylock calling its findings “very, very disappointing” and taking responsibility for corrective action.
“I have to take responsibility for when things go wrong,” Blaylock said.
Blaylock said he holds every JTA employee accountable for executing his or her responsibility and that while the authority could not control what people do in their private lives, it does have a responsibility for who “sits behind the wheel.” He said he is now engaged with attorneys for reviewing such records and, moving forward, all JTA employees must report any arrests.
Driving records are also under review, he said, and the JTA drivers rule book will be revised.
Any disciplinary decisions based on the reviews will be announced by the end of March, he said.
Blaylock said he was “absolutely committed” to “make this right.”
JTA Chairman Ed Burr, a four-year board member, responded by calling the investigation’s findings an “embarrassment for the authority and an embarrassment for everyone on this board.”
He said the board is just beginning to “get its arms around” around the issue and though it generally stays out of the day-to-day operations, he wanted to see the policy changes in writing as they are created.
“I think that your intention is in the right spot,” he said of Blaylock’s goal of corrective action. “We can’t ever take our eye off the mission.”
Following Burr’s comments, JTA board member Cleve Warren also commended Blaylock on his desire to fix the problem and urged all JTA employees to “rally around this” instead of shying away from the conflict.
“Don’t find a rock to crawl under,” he said, later adding: “We can overcome this.”
The report and response wasn’t the only point of contention Thursday.
Members of the paratransit community used the public comment portion of the meeting to urge the board to re-think the rate changes that impact the disadvantaged and disabled communities. The rate increases are gradual and will be capped in 2014, but several speakers said it would be too much for people on fixed incomes.
The changes were approved last month, but Burr said that JTA was committed to the paratransit community and would look into re-engaging the conversation.
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