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DART board stands by CEO pick as Florida spending probe proceeds
DART leaders told Dallas City Council members they remain confident in Nathaniel Ford, who is due to take over the transit agency next week. Florida investigators are examining spending during his tenure at Jacksonville’s transit authority, but Ford has not been charged with a crime.
Dallas Area Rapid Transit’s board is standing by incoming CEO Nathaniel Ford as Florida authorities investigate spending at the Jacksonville transit agency he previously led.
At a Dallas City Council Transportation Committee meeting Monday, DART interim CEO David Leninger and board Chair Randall Bryant faced questions about Ford’s appointment. Bryant said the board had considered the information available when it made the hiring decision and continues to support Ford.
“We have affirmed Nat Ford as our CEO, and we continue to do that,” Bryant said. He added that he did not want to use the meeting to “get into a battle with the attorney general of Florida.”
Ford was named DART’s next CEO in July and is scheduled to begin the job Oct. 26. Florida’s attorney general opened a criminal investigation in early October into the Jacksonville Transit Authority, which is facing a $40 million budget shortfall and has made route and staffing cuts.
The investigation concerns spending during Ford’s leadership, including massage expenses, murals, hotel stays and JTA’s tuition-reimbursement policy, which investigators are examining for potential tax-code violations. Ford has not been charged with a crime.
Subpoenas seek communications involving Ford, his wife and consultant Kenston Griffin from October 2023 through March 2025. Investigators have also requested contracts between JTA and Ford’s wife, employee salary information for workers earning more than $150,000, and records of certain travel expenses, including Ford’s. Other requested records relate to the dismissal of accounting department employees.
JTA has until Oct. 30 to provide documents. Ford has also agreed to give voluntary testimony at a Jacksonville City Council Finance Committee meeting, according to council member Rory Diamond.
Documents indicate Ford is scheduled to remain JTA’s CEO through Jan. 8, 2027, while beginning his DART role in October. That schedule would have him holding both positions at once for more than two months. JTA has also shut down its NAVI autonomous taxi system, a project Ford helped advance.
The Florida inquiry places renewed scrutiny on DART’s leadership choice as the Dallas-area agency prepares for a transition at its top post. The board has not indicated it plans to change its decision.