JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Former Jacksonville Transportation Authority CEO Nat Ford did not show up Friday for testimony subpoenaed by the Jacksonville City Council, leaving council members to debate what to do next as he prepares to start running Dallas’ transit system on Monday.
Ford’s no-show comes as JTA faces a nearly $40 million budget hole, the loss of nearly 200 jobs and a criminal investigation by the state.
Friday was supposed to be the day Ford answered for JTA’s finances. Instead, council members spent the meeting arguing over the subpoena itself — whether to keep it, whether Ford is already in violation of it and what it would take to bring him back from Dallas.
“I referred to it as a friendly subpoena,” Council Member Nick Howland said.
Friendly or not, the legal consequences were made clear during the meeting. Someone who fails to comply with a council subpoena would be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $1,000, up to 60 days in jail, or both.
And it could go further. A lawyer told council members the matter could ultimately end up before a judge, who could issue a civil contempt order known as a capias — “essentially an arrest warrant.”
Councilmember Johnson filed a motion to remove the subpoena, concerned the process could come across as adversarial.
“If he says, ‘no,’ I’m not interested, or if he doesn’t answer, then you move to the subpoena,” Johnson said.
Another council member agreed. “But we didn’t even give him an opportunity to say, you know what, I’ll fly back on my own,” the council member said. “I believe in people’s integrity.”
But others warned that pulling the subpoena would leave the council without leverage. One council member said releasing Ford from it would leave no “legal hammer, for lack of a better term.”
Another put it bluntly: “Subpoena or no subpoena, he shouldn’t need a subpoena.”
The timing has raised questions about why the council waited until the eleventh hour to act — and whether the former CEO is being made a scapegoat.
Action News Jax first reported alleged mismanagement at JTA nearly three years ago. Ford resigned in July, and the agency announced widespread layoffs and service cuts in mid-September. But the subpoena didn’t come until Ford’s final week at JTA.
As for Ford, there is still no date for when he will testify.
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