The subpoena calls for Ford to appear before the committee on Oct. 23, three days before he is scheduled to begin as CEO of Dallas Area Rapid Transit. Council members said they would consider another date if Ford agrees to testify voluntarily before either the Finance Committee or the council’s Financial Audit and Oversight Select Committee.

The authority accumulated tens of millions of dollars in deficit spending over a two-year period under Ford’s leadership, according to council members. The shortfall has led JTA to eliminate some bus routes, reduce service frequency on others and plan layoffs affecting 200 employees.

Council member Rory Diamond, who proposed the subpoena, said the council needs to hear directly from Ford about how the agency remained on a budget path that led to the cuts. He said taxpayers, transit riders and employees facing layoffs deserve answers.

“Everybody who lost their job, everybody who now can’t get to work or school as efficiently as they used to, and frankly all the taxpayers and ratepayers in Jacksonville can get answers from the horse’s mouth,” Diamond said.

Council President Nick Howland backed the committee’s vote, saying members need to understand how JTA developed financial projections that proved substantially inaccurate. He said the inquiry is intended to determine what went wrong and how to address the agency’s finances, not to target Ford.

Ford was selected in July to lead Dallas Area Rapid Transit, with a start date of Oct. 26. JTA’s board promoted Cleveland Ferguson to interim CEO in August. Ford has continued to receive his JTA CEO-level salary through Oct. 21 while serving as an as-needed adviser to Ferguson.

Howland said he left Ford a voicemail on Oct. 20 asking him to appear, and committee chair Chris Miller sent a written request later that day. Council member Rahman Johnson, the lone committee member to vote against the subpoena, said the council moved too quickly from a request to compulsion and should give Ford more time to respond.

Council member Ron Salem also questioned the pace. He suggested first speaking with JTA officials who worked under Ford, including the former chief financial officer, and considering written questions. Salem said Ford’s attorneys could advise him not to testify while the Florida Attorney General’s Office of Statewide Prosecution investigates JTA. That office has issued subpoenas to the agency, including requests for communications involving Ford.

Diamond said Ford’s imminent departure made it important to act before he leaves JTA, while adding that the council would be reasonable if Ford cannot attend on Oct. 23. “If for some reason he doesn’t,” Diamond said, “then we have the subpoena power in our back pocket.”