JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — One Jacksonville Transportation Authority board member is calling for top leadership to resign.
It comes as JTA deals with a nearly $40 million budget hole.
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J. Daniel Vallencourt said former CEO Nat Ford and his executive leadership team painted a picture for the board that did not reflect reality.
He’s demanding three top leaders now resign saying, “It is impossible to have confidence in those who remain from the original leadership team.”
He specifically wants interim CEO Cleveland Ferguson III, Chief Operating Officer Jeffrey Smith, and Senior Vice President of Public Affairs Jessica Shepler to step down.
RELATED: Former JTA CEO Nat Ford skips subpoenaed Council testimony days before starting Dallas job
Vallencourt claims when the board was asked to approve an emergency amendment to the budget in February, they were not told more than $34 million had already been drawn from JTA’s reserve funds.
He also said he was told the $40 million line of credit was to manage “typical mismatches” in cash flow and that the past-due vendor bills were “routine.”
Months later he said is when the board learned for the first time that JTA owed vendors about $25 million with more than $5 million months overdue.
Read Vallencourt’s full statement below:
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JTA issued the following statement in response to Vallencourt:
“Director Vallencourt raises the very questions the public, the JTA Board and the Jacksonville City Council are asking: What happened? Why did it happen? And who is responsible?
“Interim CEO Cleveland Ferguson and CFO Randall Barnes plan to address those questions directly at Wednesday’s Board meeting.”
Action News Jax has been reporting on financial mismanagement at JTA for years. It ultimately resulted in nearly 200 people being laid off.
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Many leaders are calling for accountability, including from Ford, who has left JTA for a new transportation job in Dallas that he started Monday. His last day at JTA was last week after almost 14 years at the agency.
Ford was supposed to testify in front of the Jacksonville City Council on Friday after he was subpoenaed. Ford said he will cooperate.
Jacksonville City Councilman Rory Diamond is now working with Ford on a date to testify, in person or virtually.
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