Donna Deegan Recommended Nat Ford to Dallas. What Did She Know About JTA Before the $39 Million Crisis?

John Hawley

Oct 8, 2026

The Mayor's Office: Part XI

Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan offered a favorable recommendation of JTA CEO Nat Ford during Dallas's executive search. Now, with JTA confronting a $39 million financial crisis and the mayor subpoenaed for records of an earlier meeting about the authority, the question is no longer simply whether Ford deserved the recommendation. It's what the mayor knew about the organization he was leaving—and when she knew it.

A Jacksonville Mayor's Recommendation Helps Inform a Dallas Hiring Decision

When Dallas Area Rapid Transit selected Nathaniel “Nat” Ford as its next chief executive in July, Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan had already provided a favorable assessment of his leadership. DART Board Chair Randall Bryant subsequently described consulting current and former Jacksonville mayors, along with current and former JTA board chairs, as part of his evaluation. In an August 3 column published by Dallas Weekly, Bryant attributed a particularly enthusiastic statement to Deegan: “I hope Dallas is fortunate enough to get him.”

Bryant's account is significant because it establishes that the mayor's assessment was part of another public agency's hiring process, not merely a congratulatory statement after the decision. He also described discussing Ford's travel expenditures with Jacksonville leaders, who reportedly defended those expenses as authorized and valuable. The published account does not establish everything Deegan said, which questions she was asked, or what records she reviewed before offering her opinion.

That distinction opens an important line of inquiry. What information supported the mayor's favorable assessment of an executive overseeing one of Jacksonville's largest public authorities? Was her recommendation based principally on Ford's relationships, successful grant applications and high-profile transportation projects, or did it also reflect a review of JTA's operating and financial performance?

When Did Deegan Know Ford Was Looking for Another Job?

Ford announced his resignation from JTA on July 3, 2026, initially setting January 8, 2027, as his departure date without identifying his next employer. On July 21, DART announced his selection as president and CEO, with a planned October 26 start date. The Dallas board's selection process was divided, with a reported 9–6 vote to select Ford and a subsequent 9–4 vote approving his employment agreement.

Reporting from Dallas also revealed that Ford had previously withdrawn from consideration before returning to the candidate pool. Former DART board leaders reportedly encouraged renewed consideration after learning of his Jacksonville resignation. That history suggests a hiring process extending beyond the public announcement of his departure, but it does not establish when Deegan first became aware of his candidacy.

That unanswered question matters. Did Ford tell the mayor he was considering Dallas before informing the JTA board of his resignation? Did the mayor learn about the opportunity only when Bryant contacted her for a reference? And was Dallas the only executive position Ford explored, or were other public authorities also considering him?

There is no verified public accounting of other positions Ford may have pursued, and no evidence establishing that Deegan recommended him to additional employers. Those possibilities should not be presented as facts. Nevertheless, the timing and scope of her involvement in the Dallas search are reasonable questions for an administration that later emphasized its limited role in JTA's operations.

Three Days Before Ford's Resignation, Jacksonville Announced a New Transportation Initiative

On June 30, three days before Ford announced his resignation, the City of Jacksonville publicized a $1.15 million federal award for JAX FAST, the Focused Accelerator for Sustainable Transportation. Funded through the U.S. Department of Transportation's Regional Infrastructure Accelerator program, the initiative establishes an office within Jacksonville's Department of Public Works. Its stated mission is to advance eight multimodal infrastructure projects through planning, financing preparation and development coordination.

The portfolio includes Amtrak relocation, regional rail planning, downtown streets and other transportation-related improvements. JTA is specifically identified as a project partner, along with FDOT, Amtrak and other organizations. The award was for planning and financing support, not a construction grant for laying rail or building roadway infrastructure.

The timing is noteworthy, but it does not establish a dispute between Deegan and Ford or a transfer of existing JTA responsibilities to the mayor's administration. The announcement does, however, illustrate the interconnected nature of City Hall and the transportation authority. While JTA operates under a separate governing board, major transportation planning and funding decisions frequently involve the mayor's administration and other government partners.

That relationship makes a complete separation between City Hall and JTA difficult to sustain as a practical description of how transportation policy is developed. Separate governing authority does not mean an absence of cooperation, communication or shared public interests. It also raises the question of how information about JTA's financial condition moved between the organizations during the months preceding Ford's departure.

A Warning Meeting in March 2025 Is Now Part of a State Investigation

The most consequential development concerns a meeting held more than a year before Ford's resignation. Former JTA board member Megan Hayward says she warned Mayor Deegan about spending and financial-management concerns during a March 3, 2025, meeting. Hayward has publicly questioned JTA's spending on its autonomous vehicle program and the accuracy of certain ridership figures.

Deegan disputes Hayward's characterization of that meeting. During a September 22 appearance, the mayor said she had reviewed the meeting notes and found nothing indicating that JTA was approaching a financial collapse. The distinction is important: Hayward's account of warnings and Deegan's account of what was communicated are conflicting statements, not independently established findings.

On October 6, Florida's Office of Statewide Prosecution subpoenaed records related to the meeting, including notes, emails, messages and other communications from March 1 through March 10, 2025. The subpoena sets an October 20 deadline for production. It is an investigative demand and does not, by itself, establish wrongdoing by the mayor or anyone else.

The central issue is what the contemporaneous records actually show. Were concerns about financial management, expenditures or JTA's internal reporting raised with the mayor? If so, what responses followed, and did the information reach the officials responsible for oversight? Those questions now have significance beyond competing recollections of a private meeting.

Why Was the Mayor's Chief Communications Officer in the Meeting?

The March 2025 meeting also creates a direct connection to the administration's Public Affairs operation. The mayor's office has confirmed that Chief Communications Officer Phil Perry attended the meeting with Hayward and that Perry was the owner of the notes being sought. The administration also clarified that Deputy Chief of Staff Joe Inderhees, whom Hayward had identified in her account, was not present.

Perry's role is worth examining because Public Affairs is a division within the Executive Office of the Mayor. It is responsible for government communications, media relations and other public-facing functions, but its chief officer also participated in this substantive discussion concerning an independent public authority. Attendance alone does not establish that Perry was responsible for investigating or resolving the concerns discussed.

The records dispute adds another dimension. Jacksonville Today reported that the mayor's press liaison, Melissa Ross, said the administration had received legal guidance treating the unshared personal notes as outside the definition of public records. The administration nevertheless stated that the notes would be reviewed by the Office of General Counsel and provided to state prosecutors.

That raises a broader institutional question about documentation and accountability. When a public official receives potentially consequential information about the management of a major public agency, how is that information recorded, evaluated and communicated? The answer should not depend solely on whether a meeting produced a photograph, a press release or a favorable public statement.

By October, the Mayor's Assessment of Ford Had Changed

When Ford announced his resignation in July, Deegan publicly praised his leadership, describing him as a dedicated partner whose vision helped move Jacksonville forward. The favorable assessment was consistent with the recommendation Bryant said she provided during Dallas's hiring process. At that point, Ford's public reputation included major transit projects, federal funding successes and a long career leading transportation agencies.

By September, however, JTA was confronting a budget problem approaching $39 million, nearly 200 layoffs and significant service reductions. The authority announced plans affecting bus service, the Skyway and its NAVI autonomous shuttle operation. State investigators also began seeking records associated with Ford's leadership and JTA's spending and administrative practices.

In an October interview with WOKV, Deegan acknowledged her longstanding favorable view of Ford while expressing disappointment over JTA's condition. She said she wanted to determine what Ford knew about the financial problems and emphasized that he had been responsible for leading the organization. Her comments represent a substantially different assessment of the questions surrounding his tenure than the public praise offered only months earlier.

Changing an assessment when new evidence emerges is not inherently inconsistent. Elected officials should be willing to reconsider their judgments when circumstances warrant it. But the contrast makes the basis for the original recommendation more important, particularly when concerns about JTA's financial management had already been raised publicly before Dallas completed its hiring decision.

Does JTA's Independence Eliminate the Mayor's Responsibility?

The Deegan administration has emphasized that JTA is a state-created regional transportation authority rather than a department controlled by the mayor. That distinction is legally meaningful. Under Florida law, JTA has its own governing board, which is responsible for hiring and supervising its chief executive and overseeing the authority's operations.

The current governing structure also gives Jacksonville's mayor a defined appointment role. Four board members are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Florida Senate, while three are appointed by the mayor and confirmed by City Council. The City Council also exercises important budgetary and financial oversight responsibilities.

Therefore, the mayor does not personally administer JTA's budget or serve as Ford's direct supervisor. But the administration's appointment authority, working relationships and participation in transportation planning mean City Hall is not entirely disconnected from the agency. The question is not whether Deegan should have performed the duties of JTA's finance department, but what reasonable steps her administration took when concerns were brought to its attention.

There is an important difference between responsibility for creating a financial problem and responsibility for responding to warning signs. The former requires evidence connecting decisions or conduct to the problem. The latter can be evaluated through meeting records, correspondence, board appointments and the actions taken after concerns were communicated.

Was the Recommendation Based on Reputation or Measurable Results?

Ford's career provides substantial grounds for a favorable professional assessment. He previously led major transit agencies in Atlanta and San Francisco and spent more than a decade directing JTA. His tenure included development of the Jacksonville Regional Transportation Center, expansion of bus rapid transit and advancement of autonomous vehicle projects.

Those accomplishments deserve consideration alongside the financial questions now under investigation. Winning federal grants, developing infrastructure and establishing professional relationships are legitimate executive achievements. They do not, however, eliminate the need to evaluate operating deficits, ridership, cost controls, employee management and long-term financial sustainability.

This is where Bryant's explanation of the Dallas hiring decision becomes especially revealing. He described the value of Ford's relationships and defended travel as an investment in obtaining funding and opportunities. But a complete assessment of executive performance must also ask whether those investments translated into reliable service and sustainable finances.

The same standard should apply to Jacksonville's own leadership evaluations. If a mayor can speak confidently about an executive's achievements, taxpayers are entitled to ask what performance measures support that confidence. A positive professional relationship is relevant, but it is not a substitute for documented results.

Jacksonville's Highest-Paid Executives Present a Larger Accountability Question

The issue extends beyond Nat Ford and the Jacksonville Transportation Authority. Jacksonville's major public authorities operate under separate boards and employ highly compensated executives responsible for utilities, aviation, port operations and regional transportation. Their salaries and compensation arrangements are often justified through specialized expertise, national recruitment and comparisons with similar organizations.

Our earlier examination of Jacksonville's public executive salary structure raised a related question: what measurable results accompany those compensation packages? Boards may consider industry experience, major projects, grants, financial performance and strategic planning when evaluating executives. But those measures should be transparent enough for taxpayers and ratepayers to understand whether the organization is receiving the leadership it is paying for.

The Ford episode adds another test of that principle. When a senior executive seeks employment elsewhere, what does a favorable reference from Jacksonville's political leadership actually represent? Does it reflect a comprehensive understanding of the executive's organizational performance, or a narrower assessment based on visible accomplishments and professional relationships?

Those are different forms of judgment. Neither is automatically improper, but they should not be confused when public officials are asked to evaluate the stewardship of multimillion-dollar government organizations. Jacksonville's experience suggests the need to examine how elected leaders, appointed boards and executive management share information before a crisis becomes impossible to ignore.

The Recommendation and the Reckoning: What Did the Mayor Know?

Mayor Deegan did not need to control JTA's daily operations to offer a professional recommendation for Nat Ford. She also did not need to manage its finances personally to take an interest in concerns about the authority's spending, reporting or leadership. The two roles involve different responsibilities, but they are not entirely unrelated.

The unresolved questions are now specific. When did Deegan first learn that Ford was pursuing the Dallas position, what information supported her recommendation, and what did her office know about JTA's financial condition at that time? What did the March 2025 meeting establish, and what actions followed?

The forthcoming records may help answer some of those questions. They may support the mayor's account that no warning of a looming financial crisis was communicated, or they may reveal concerns that require further explanation. Until those records and other evidence are evaluated, neither conclusion should be assumed.

But the central accountability question remains: If Mayor Deegan knew enough about Nat Ford's leadership to recommend him to Dallas, how much did she know about the Jacksonville Transportation Authority he was leaving behind?

And if the answer is that her administration did not have a sufficiently complete picture, Jacksonville should ask whether its system of executive oversight and information-sharing was working as intended.

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