JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A member of the Jacksonville Transportation Authority board is calling for the agency’s three highest-ranking remaining executives to step down, arguing that the transit agency cannot dig out of its money troubles with the same leaders in charge.
In a written statement released Monday, board member J. Daniel Vallencourt named three people: Jessica Shepler, the senior vice president of public affairs; Chief Operating Officer Jeffrey Smith; and interim CEO Cleveland Ferguson III. He said he has no confidence in anyone left from the original leadership team under former CEO Nat Ford.
Vallencourt, who joined the board in February, said that at his first meeting management sought an emergency cut trimming operating spending to $148.2 million, down from $162.4 million, and pinned it on falling sales tax revenue. By then, he said, $34.2 million had already been taken out of reserves, and board members did not find out until a retreat in August.
His statement says JTA spent $181.1 million against that approved $148.2 million, roughly $32.9 million more than authorized, and that the deficit hit $39 million by August.
He also said a $40 million line of credit was pitched to the board as a routine cash-flow tool. Members later learned JTA had roughly $25 million in unpaid vendor bills, and more than $5 million of that was months overdue.
JTA responded that Ferguson and CFO Randall Barnes intend to answer those questions at the board meeting set for Wednesday.
Ford left JTA last week after almost 14 years and began a new transportation job in Dallas on Monday. He was subpoenaed to testify before the Jacksonville City Council and has said he will cooperate; Councilman Rory Diamond is working with him to set a date.
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