DART Board Stands by Incoming CEO Nathaniel Ford as Florida Spending Probe Proceeds: Ford to Start October 26
Leaders of Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) in Dallas, Dallas County, Texas, told City Council members at a Transportation Committee meeting on Monday that the board remains confident in incoming CEO Nathaniel Ford, who is due to take over the transit agency on October 26. Florida investigators are examining spending at the Jacksonville transit authority Ford previously led, but Ford has not been charged with a crime.
DART interim CEO David Leninger and board Chair Randall Bryant faced questions at the meeting. 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, adding 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.
Florida's attorney general opened a criminal investigation in early October into the Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA), which faces 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. Subpoenas seek communications involving Ford, his wife and consultant Kenston Griffin from October 2023 through March 2025, along with contracts between JTA and Ford's wife, salary information for employees earning more than $150,000, and records of certain travel expenses. (Compiled from The Dallas Focal)
Source: The Dallas Focal
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: Dallas 市政厅实景。图片来源：Wikimedia Commons 文件 DallasCityHallB.jpg，Kent Wang 摄，CC BY-SA 2.0 授权
