With 89 days until Jacksonville Transportation Authority CEO Nat Ford is scheduled to take over at the helm of Dallas Area Rapid Transit, the JTA board took its first steps toward replacing Ford during its July 29 board meeting.
The board opted to create a separate committee, which will comprise all seven board members, to focus on the CEO search process.
Ford announced his resignation on July 3, initially indicating he would depart JTA in January 2027. After his resignation announcement, the DART board hired Ford as the organization’s CEO on a 9-6 vote and announced he would start Oct. 26.
Ford’s last day with JTA has not been publicly announced.
During the July 29 board meeitng, members declined to immediately hire a consulting firm to lead the search process but agreed to begin a procurement process to find such a firm. While that process may take longer, some board members said they felt it would offer more transparency to JTA’s overall CEO search.
While some members raised concerns that the cost of hiring a consulting firm would be too high with JTA already suffering revenue shortfalls, three of the seven members indicated that would be their preferred approach, while three others indicated they were open to the possibility.
“I would not be inclined to support that (spending) in a year where we’re furloughing our people. I’m in close contact with the governor’s office,” said member Max Glober, the lone member who expressed full opposition to using a search firm. “They’ve expressed they don’t support a national search firm due to the costs and some of the results they’ve seen in the past.”
During the 2026 fiscal year, which runs through September, JTA has suffered $14.2 million in expected revenue decreases, including falling sales tax revenue and fare collection. In response, JTA pulled back on some services and made cuts to its workforce, including furloughs and hiring freezes for some positions.
Aundra Wallace, board chair and JAXUSA president, said a search firm would help identify additional candidates and assure potential applicants that JTA’s search process was without political interference.
“This is lived experience. I’ve done it in multiple different cities… Search firms can contact you and have that dialog,” Wallace said. “Trust me. It’s not a week that somebody doesn’t call me about something. I have no interest in leaving Jacksonville, none whatsoever. But clear, search firms know people that are out there, and they will go seek the best people.”
Richard Milian, an attorney who serves as JTA’s outside general counsel through the Nelson Mullens law firm, told board members that search firms typically charged around 33% of the incoming CEO’s salary for finding the executive. Ford’s base salary, as of 2023, was $458,923, according to Daily Record news partner JaxToday.
The July 29 meeting marked the first time JTA’s board met after Ford announced his impending resignation on July 3. JTA’s board took no firm steps to appoint an interim CEO in Ford’s stead, and debated whether such a hire should be brought into the authority internally or externally, or whether one would be needed at all.
Wallace said hiring an interim CEO from within the authority could create problems within the staff should that individual not be retained as CEO. Board member Daniel Vallencourt said that should JTA retain a consulting firm to hire a CEO, concerns about improper hiring practices should not be a concern.
Milian told board members they should not expect to hire a new CEO before December, leaving the authority without a CEO for more than a month. In other situations, Milian said, JTA may not find a CEO until March 2027.